World War Three
by perpetualpathology
Summary: WW3 commences and the army need all the help they can get. Tom joins up so that he can serve his country, with his wife. And together, they complete training and are deployed to be medics on missions around the world. But when they land in some trouble, they are marooned on an uninhabited island and begin to lose all hope of being found...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - I don't know an awful lot about army ranks etc, so please ignore any mistakes made on my part :)**

Anyone with a basic knowledge of the - then current - political situation regarding Crimea knew it was coming; the tension between Russia and the USA had been building for months and more and more countries had been getting involved on both sides of the argument. But of course, everyone had hoped that it wouldn't have gone to, what was always, the last resort.

The entire ED had come to a standstill to listen to the message that was being broadcasted on live TV from the British prime minister at 10 Downing Street on the TV in reception.  
"_It is with the deepest regret that Russia have not pulled their armed forces out of Crimea, or the Ukrainian military bases, which is why Britain, and the USA, have declared war on Russia_." David Cameron explained, and within seconds the ED began to get noisy again as the rest of the broadcast was drowned out. Worried relatives and colleagues talking to each other whilst some members of the staff found it hard to accept the news. Sam couldn't believe her ears as she looked up and met eyes with her husband across the reception. He made his way through the crowd politely and paused in front of his wife.  
"You okay?" Tom asked softly as he tucked a bit of loose hair behind her ear.  
"Yeah, fine. I just... I really hoped that it wouldn't come to this." She admitted.  
"Me too." Tom stated quietly, which let an awkward silence fall over them for a few moments.  
"Right, we'd better get on. This ED isn't going to get any quieter is it." Sam concluded as she straightened her yellow stethoscope around her neck.  
"Wait, Sam-" Tom called but she had disappeared into resus. He could only guess that she was trying to ignore the global issue. But he was sure that he would be able to discuss it with her later - she just needed some time for the news to sink in.

As the minutes turned into hours the day began to slowly creep by. But the political situation had escalated so much further. More and more countries had gotten involved which had put so many more people in fear and danger. People couldn't believe how quickly the situation had worsened until several of the worlds superpowers were involved. To put it simply : UK, USA, Japan, France and India, against Russia, China and Germany. But that was mere hours after the declaration of war... Who knew what would happen in the near future?

* * *

Tom and Sam were making their way out to their car after a long day at work when they noticed that everything was suddenly so much gloomier. Nobody had a smile on their face, the morning's clear blue sky had disappeared above the thick, dark grey clouds and there wasn't the usual buzz of people on the grass by the peace garden.  
"I know it's date night, but can we stay in tonight?" Sam asked wearily as they both got into the car and pulled their seat belts on.  
"Yeah sure. I'll cook us something." He replied kindly as he too had to admit that the last thing that he wanted would be to go out and have a meal at a posh restaurant together and pretend that everything was going to be okay because they knew that they weren't as safe as they had been that morning when they woke up in each other's arms. "What do you fancy for dinner?" He asked, but Sam shrugged.  
"I'm not really hungry." Sam admitted and once again, and silence began to creep upon them until Tom decided to speak up.

"Look, are you being quiet because you're worried about this war?" Tom asked quietly.  
"War happens Tom. Just get over it." Sam snapped but she instantly regretted being so rude to her husband as he had only asked her a question as he cared for his wife's happiness. "Sorry... It's been a long day." She apologised.  
"Okay, how about a nice bowl of my amazing chicken soup, and then a nice hot bath together?" He suggested to change the subject.  
"Your 'amazing chicken soup' is just a tin of Heinz soup isn't it?" Sam retorted.  
"Maybe." Tom replied sheepishly. "Is that a yes?" He asked.  
"Yeah, go on then." Sam gave a small smile. "But you're having the tap end of the bath." She ordered.  
"I always have the tap end." Tom moaned.  
"Exactly, so you're used to it." Sam concluded smugly.

* * *

The couple were lying in the hot, steamy, soapy bath and Tom had Sam's feet on his lap. He was giving her a gentle foot massage to relieve some of her stress when her phone began ringing. She dried her hand on the towel besides her, and then answered the call from an unknown number.  
"Hello?... Ma'am." She suddenly became formal and Tom looked at her in confusion. "Right... Yes... I'm not entirely sure... Can I have some time to think it over?... Okay, thank you Ma'am... Yes, I'll get back to you soon... Goodbye." She hung up the phone and put it next to the bath on the floor again before she settled down in the water but her mind was restless, but she kept her head above water as she had her hair in a bun to prevent it from getting wet. "The um... The army are deploying troops all over the world, mainly in Russia, Ukraine and Crimea... And they've got enough soldiers who were on the reserves, but they haven't got nearly enough combat medics." Sam explained slowly and Tom's face became clearly despaired as he knew where it was going.

"And they've asked you to join up again." He concluded and Sam gave a small nod. "Are you considering it?"  
"I suppose... I mean, they need medics and it takes years to have them fully trained so obviously, their first choice is ex-army members to get medics out there as soon as." Sam said slowly. "What do you think I should do?" She asked timidly as he began to trail his finger lightly over the top of her foot in the water.  
"C'mon I can't make that decision for you." Tom stated.  
"I'm not asking you to I just... Before, when I signed up, I had nobody but Dylan, and he didn't exactly protest at me leaving, but... I don't know, now I've got you and... I don't know Tom." She admitted and they fell into a silence once more that lasted several minutes until he came to a decision.

"Well I know." Tom stated and Sam looked up at him in confusion. He knew that she had never truly wanted to leave the army, she just needed a break after the shooting incident. And he knew she was right, and that if the pair weren't married, she would of course have accepted the offer no questions asked. But as much as he supported her decision to serve their country, he didn't want her doing it alone. "If you join, I'll join. And if the army are so desperate then they'll let us stay together rather than not have two emergency doctors who are fully trained. That is, if you want to join of course." Tom explained.

"Of course I want to join but I don't understand; you... You'd really join the army just to stay with me?" Sam asked.  
"Yeah, of course I would. But we'd need to make sure that we'd be able to stay together first." Tom said sternly. Sam smiled as she repositioned herself in the bath and got on of him, chest to chest. She gave him a deep passionate kiss on the lips before she stared lovingly into his eyes.  
"Are you sure you don't want more time to think about it?" Sam asked.  
"Sam, as long as I'm with you, I don't care where I am, who else I'm working with or what I'm doing." Tom stated.  
"Don't give me all the cheesy stuff." Sam cringed as she buried her head in his chest that was just above the water level.

"So what's the rules on making love in the army?" Tom said suggestively as he smoothed his hands over her back in the water.  
"It's technically not allowed, but basically, as long as you don't get caught, you can do it as much as you want." Sam explained bluntly.  
"Well discrete is my middle name." Tom joked. "Oh, and what do we do about protection?" He asked curiously.  
"Um... You can get pretty much every single form of birth control at base camps, but I'll go on the pill to make things easier."  
"Okay. And what's the rules on making love in this bath?" Tom asked and Sam couldn't help but smirk.

"That's a no go because I'm not on the pill yet and you haven't got anything, so you'll have to wait until we're in bed." Sam stated firmly.  
"Right." Tom nodded and Sam could tell he was up to something by the look on his face. "What?!" He laughed.  
"You've got that smug look that means you're going to do something stupid." Sam stated.  
"Well then, I'd better get on with it." He announced as he pulled the plug out underneath him, wrapped his arms under Sam's bum and stood up in the bath with her weight on against his abdomen and her legs straddled around his waist.  
"What are you doing?" Sam remarked.  
"Well you said we have to wait until we're in bed, and I can't wait any longer so I'm just speeding up the process." He admitted jokily as he stepped out of the bath and placed her on her feet on the bathroom mat. He wrapped a towel around her body, and then one around his waist, before he took the hairband out of Sam's bun and let her thick, dry hair fall down around her shoulders. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" Tom smiled as he pecked her on the lips.

"Yes, but don't let that stop you from saying it more than once." Sam smiled and Tom chuckled.  
"Right, to the bedroom!" He announced before he strolled confidently into the room, dropped his towel and launched himself on the bed. Sam rolled her eyes before she went in, dropped her towel too and joined him under the duvet to make love.

* * *

Sam and Tom were laying naked under the duvet, relaxing after their strenuous activity when Sam slid out of bed and pulled her dressing gown on.  
"Now now, I didn't have you down as a sex and run girl Mrs Kent." Tom remarked.  
"I'm ringing the base back to discuss terms." Sam stated as she grabbed her mobile from the bathroom and then sat on the end of the bed besides Tom's legs.  
"Make it perfectly clear that we're to be deployed together or they can stuff it." Tom ordered.  
"I will... But I think I might have to rephrase that for Ma'am." Sam smiled sheepishly.  
"Come here." Tom smiled as Sam put the phone to her ear but Tom pulled Sam so that she was lying chest down on top of him with just the duvet and her dressing gown separating their naked bodies. "Put it on speaker so I can hear." He ordered.  
"Fine, but you need to keep quiet." Sam ordered as she pressed a button on her iPhone and then placed it on the bedside table just inches away from her.  
"_Major Nicholl_s." A stern voice announced.  
"Yes Ma'am, I would like to discuss terms on my return to the force..." Sam began in a formal tone and Tom smiled as he tucked her hair behind her ears to keep it out of her face.

* * *

Sam and Tom arrived in the ED the next day holding hands for support, but instead of going straight to the staff room to get changed, they first went to Zoe's office. Sam took a deep breath before she knocked on the door and entered with Tom.  
"Shouldn't you two be changed and in cubicles by now?" Zoe questioned.  
"We've still got five minutes and we just wanted to inform you of something." Sam explained carefully.  
"Right, and what is that?" Zoe asked because she didn't have the time to be waiting around all day; she was due in a meeting soon.  
"Tom and I... Well we're joining the Royal Army Medical Corps." Sam stated bluntly and Zoe's face lit up in shock at what she had said. She wasn't shocked by Sam returning, but as far as she knew, Tom had no experience in the armed forces whatsoever.  
"The army?" Zoe asked.  
"Yes." Sam replied simply. "Um we've got a two day medical and fitness assessment this weekend, and depending on whether we pass that or not, we'll be given between a few days and a few weeks notice before we're taken to a more intense training camp." Sam explained.  
"Right." Zoe nodded, as she knew that with the global declaration of war, employers had been told to be more lenient in losing their employees to the armed forces because they were sending troops all over the world because with the worlds super powers fighting, poorer countries were beginning to run riot without fear of punishment. "And... I'm assuming you'll be wanting to leave here as soon as you've got the dates for the training camp."  
"Yeah, pretty much." Tom stated.

"Well, I don't know what to say." Zoe admitted. "Obviously I don't want to lose either of you, becuase you're both brilliant doctors but I know you'll make everyone here proud of you."  
"Thanks. And um, we want to keep it low key. No big send offs or anything. I mean, it's not exactly something to celebrate is it?" Sam stated.  
"No of course not, if that's what you want then I'll keep it to myself." Zoe nodded in understanding.  
"Thanks. We'd better go and get changed." Tom stated before the couple left the room.

* * *

The married couple were just about to leave work when Sam paused.  
"Hang on a minute, I just need to go and grab something." Sam stated and Tom went to follow her but she paused again. "You wait here, I won't be long." She ordered before she quickly walked into the hospital entrance. A couple of minutes later, she exited and Tom watched her clip her handbag shut, but he was sure he caught a glimpse of a pharmacy bag.  
"What did you get?" He asked curiously.  
"What? Oh um, I forgot my phone."  
"No you didn't, your phone was in your trouser pocket the whole time." Tom stated as he glanced at the rectangular object in her skinny jeans pocket. "C'mon, what did you put in your bag?" He asked.  
"Nothing." Sam replied simply as she began to walk to the car, but Tom crept up behind her, snatched her bag and opened it to find a pharmacy bag with two boxes of the 28 day combined pill in it. "Tom! Give it back now!" Sam ordered in a panic and Tom quickly returned the bag to her which she hastily did back up.  
"Why didn't you just tell me that you'd gotten the pill?" Tom asked curiously but Sam just continued walking back to the car. "You're embarrassed aren't you?"

"What? No I don't care." Sam lied convincingly, but Tom always knew when she was lying; she usually failed to make eye contact when she did.  
"Oh c'mon, we're both doctors. And don't say you're not embarrassed because in the entire time that I've known you and we've been married, you've never once said anything about your period. You always keep it to yourself."  
"Pft. And that's a bad thing?" Sam protested weakly.  
"It is when you lie in bed in pain in the middle of the night, but you're too embarrassed to get out of bed to get pain relief because you think that it'll give it away." Tom stated and Sam kept her eyes on the floor as she let her hair cover her flushed cheeks. "Look I know it's a sensitive subject, but please don't feel that you have to hide it from me okay?" Tom said softly as he gently grabbed her arm to stop her from walking so fast and turned her to face him. She finally looked up and met his eyes, before she gave a reluctant nod. Tom knew it was the best he was going to get out of her so he put his arm around her shoulders and slowly began to walk back to the car. "C'mon, let's go home." He smiled.

* * *

Sam and Tom arrived home after an exhausting day at work to find two thick, A4 envelopes on the door mate delivered first class.  
"Ooh, just think. After an entire day of filling out paperwork, we get to fill out more paperwork." Sam said sarcastically as she picked them up and then made her way through to the kitchen. "They must be the medical forms and details." Sam stated.  
"Yippee." Tom sighed and he and Sam got changed into comfortable clothes and had their dinner before they settled down in the living room with the table in front of them, ready to fill out the forms.  
"Right, I know it's hard for you, but these forms have to be really neat - not in your infamous hyroglific writing." Sam said patronisingly as she handed him a black biro pen and got one for herself.  
"In block capitals." Tom read off of the first of many sheets that he had to fill out. "If I write in block capitals, it's even worse than my normal hand writing." Tom moaned. "Sam..." He began as he fluttered his eyelashes at her.

"Would you like me to fill out the forms for you?" Sam huffed.  
"Yes please." Tom nodded eagerly and Sam rolled her eyes before she grabbed his forms to fill out first.

* * *

Tom was sitting with his feet on the table, watching the TV whilst Sam was leaning on the table, filling out her forms which she was only halfway through. She had her head propped up by her hand, and Tom could tell by the way that she was writing so slowly that she was extremely tired.  
"C'mon, come to bed. You can finish these off tomorrow." He said softly as he switched the TV off, leant forward and took the pen out of her aching hand.  
"What time is it?" Sam asked wearily as she ran her hands over her face.  
"Almost midnight." Tom replied. "Come on, bedtime sleepy head." Tom whispered as he helped her off of the sofa, grabbed her hand and guided her through to their bedroom.

Sam soon drifted off into a slumber, but her dreams were not the usual random ones she had. But instead, they were of how incredibly brave and committed her husband was for going into a war zone with her, just to keep them together. And of how much she absolutely loved her husband because there was nothing that she would ever let break them apart unlike her previous marriage.

Despite being tired also, Tom found it a little more difficult to sleep, as he kept on worrying about the details of what he had let himself in for. Sam would probably know people in the training camps, she would know procedures, ranks and unwritten rules of the army. But he would be a complete novice to the job. However despite his worries, he was just happy that he had a guarantee from Sam's 'Ma'am' as she called her, that they would be deployed together and kept together. They had only received that guarantee becuase the army needed medics, and Sam and Tom were highly qualified. He snuggled forward and wrapped his arms around Sam to keep her warm and comforted during the night, before he finally managed to fall asleep.

**Thanks for reading, please review and let me know what you think :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Friday Night**

It was then evening before Sam and Tom would leave for their two day fitness and medical assessment at a base in Winchester, a two hour drive away and Tom had just sat down on a chair in the kitchen whilst Sam got the clippers out because Tom wanted his hair cut a little shorter to keep it manageable.  
"Right, pick a number between one and five. Five is the longest and one is practically bald." Sam ordered as she took them out and plugged the shaver in.  
"Um... Try four first and I might go a little shorter." Tom replied so Sam put the appropriate blade on there shaver and switched it in, creating a buzzing noise.  
"Right, what are the rules that I've told you?" Sam asked sternly as she began to glide the device from his hairline to the base of his neck.  
"No swearing until we've been deployed because the captains don't allow it unless you're in the field. Speak formally and confidently to everyone at the base. Do everything they say, no questions asked, and I'm not allowed to drink a drop of alcohol. Oh and no discrimination against women whatsoever because you might hit me." Tom explained.  
"And?"  
"And... Oh, and no touching you inappropriately unless it's after lights out, nobody is around and we definitely won't get caught." Tom added cheekily.  
"No, I said not touching me full stop. We're not going to sleep together Tom, it's one night in a hotel near the base. There's no point in taking the risk." Sam stated. "Besides, we'll be in separate rooms." She added.  
"But I thought Ma'am said we would be together." Tom protested.

"Yes we'll be deployed together and we'll be partners when we go out on calls, but when we're around other soldiers who have trained for years, we have to behave like we've done exactly the same as them and that we aren't being treated differently. Okay?"  
"Okay." Tom nodded. "How am I looking?" He asked curiously.  
"Um... I think maybe you should go number three. Number four barely cut off more than half a centimetre." Sam admitted.  
"Go on then, go for it."  
"But you haven't even seen what your hair is like now." Sam pointed out.  
"No but I trust your judgement." Tom stated and Sam smiled as she changed the clippers to number three.

* * *

"Right, all done." Sam announced as she brushed the excess hair off of Tom's bare shoulders - he had taken his shirt off for his hair cut to prevent his shirt from becoming itchy.  
"Let's have a look then. See how handsome I am." Tom said smugly as he jumped up and looked in the mirror on the wall. His hair was only a little shorter than usual, but it was short enough that he didn't have lots of curls, and that he didn't really need to comb a lot. "Who's that handsome devil?" Tom teased himself in the mirror and Sam couldn't help but smirk. "I look absolutely gorgeous, thank you." Tom said smugly before he pecked Sam on the cheek.

"No worries. Right remember tomorrow we're leaving at 9am tomorrow, and no later." Sam said sternly.  
"And we're having whole meal toast and milk for breakfast because of the blood and urine tests." Tom added. "Y'know I do actually listen to what you say." He stated.  
"Sometimes." Sam added sheepishly.  
"Haha." Tom said sarcastically. "Right, I'm going for a shower, you want to come in with me?"  
"Um, no thanks. I was going to have a bath to relax my muscles for tomorrow." Sam replied.  
"Well then I'll run your bath for you before I jump in the shower. C'mon." He smiled as he tugged her hand and Sam give in as she followed him to their ensuite.

* * *

**11am**  
Sam and Tom had arrived at the assessment centre and approached the reception with their holdalls as they were staying in a hotel for the night organised by the centre where other candidates would be staying too.  
"Sam Nicholls and Tom Kent here for our medical and fitness test." Sam announced formally. They had both agreed that it would be easiest for Sam to use her maiden name so that there wasn't any confusion later on as they were both going to be Major Kent. The receptionist spend a few moments clicking the mouse and typing on the keyboard until she finally spoke.  
"If you would just like to take a seat, you will be seen soon." She stated. She pointed around a corner, and Sam and Tom followed the corridor down where there was a long row of chairs filled with potential soldiers, each with their own small suitcase, waiting to be called.  
"Go on, you sit. I'll stand." Tom offered as there was only one seat and Sam happily sat down next to another man. And she realised that there wasn't any women in the corridor - usually, she'd meet a few other women but there wasn't a single one there. But to be honest, she preferred that there went any other women because in general, she got on better with males as females often annoyed her - whether there were applying a thin layer of foundation in camp bastion or whether they were sleeping around with god knows how many men, with higher roles than them, every day just to earn her some brownie points.  
"We're probably going to get split up soon, so I'll see you later okay? Good luck." Sam whispered in the silent corridor.  
"Yep, you too." He replied as he placed a hand discretely on her shoulder for reassurance.

* * *

"Samantha Nicholls." A male called as he came out of one of the two doors. One was for females, and another was for males. Sam stood up with her suitcase to make her presence known. "Follow me." He ordered and Sam gave a smile to Tom before she entered the room where there was a metal detector to walk through, and a station attended by another male to search her bag. "Right, I'm afraid as you were recruited at short notice, we haven't got a female doctor on site today." He stated as Sam placed her bag on the counter.  
"That's fine, I don't mind." Sam stated confidently.  
"Right, jumper, belt and shoes off, any jewellery off and pockets emptied please." He ordered as he gestured a tray whilst another man took Sam's suitcase and began searching through it for any prohibited items such as weapons, performance enhancing drugs and alcohol. Sam did as she was told, and then reluctantly placed her wedding ring in the tray too before she went and stood on the blue circle in front of the scanner.

"You seem like you've done this before." The man remarked.  
"I have, I'm an ex combat medic." Sam stated.  
"Oh right. Walk through slowly." He ordered and Sam did so without a glitch; she had no metal on her. "And why did you leave?" He asked curiously.  
"It's complicated." Sam admitted.  
"That's what they all say." The man stated as he received Sam's items out of the scanner and placed the tray in front of her so she could put her things back on again. "So what does your husband think about you joining the army?" He asked to make conversation whilst her bag was still being searched as she put her wedding ring back on.  
"He supports me 100%. He's out there waiting to have his tests as well." Sam explained.  
"Oh right. We don't see many military couples. In fact, I haven't seen one in months."

"The bag's clear." Another man announced as he handed Sam her small wheeled suitcase.  
"Right, you're the only female candidate on site today so you should get your tests over and done with very quickly. Just place your bags in your locker." The man said as he lead Sam through to a small locker room and handed her a key. "You need to get changed into something comfortable, and the doctor will come and get you in a minute." The man explained.  
"Okay, thanks." Sam smiled as she lifted her suitcase into her locker.  
"Good luck Samantha." He said before he left the woman in peace, and Sam's lips twinged in annoyance at her full name. She took her time in getting changed into a pair of black leggings, her favourite running trainers, long white base layer and a dark blue hoodie before she sat down on the bench ready for her medical tests. Sam was twiddling her fingers when a man in green camouflage gear and combat boots walked in.  
"Hello Major Nicholls, I'm your liaison, Michael." He introduced and Sam jumped to her feet and shook the man's hand.  
"Nice to meet you."  
"Right, normally you'd need to wear a number for identification but you're the only female so you don't need that. And here is your medical file." He explained. "You just need to follow me and I'll show you to the doctors room." Sam followed the man through the array of corridors before they finally stopped outside off a white door. "Don't worry, you've got Dr Barnet, he's a real softie."  
"There are no softies in the army." Sam retorted.  
"Well, okay. He's the softest guy in the building." Michael corrected as he opened the door. "Dr Barnet, this is Major Nicholls. I'll leave you to it."

Sam was left in the room alone with the man who was also in camouflage gear and combat boots with a stethoscope around his neck.  
"Right, I think it's best to get the worst out of the way first. Now I see you're ex forces so you'll know that I have to watch you when you give the urine sample to ensure it is your urine." Dr Barnet explained bluntly as he picked up a sample pot.  
"Yes." Sam nodded.  
"And is there any chance of pregnancy?"  
"Nope."  
"Okay, we'll run a HCG test just in case and the toilet is just through there." He stated and Sam got up and entered the white tiled room where there was a single toilet with no door or stall around it and a single sink by the wall. Even though she had done it before, she still felt nervous as the doctor was in the room watching her every move as they had to be sure that she was giving her own urine to be tested, when before she had had a female watching her. It took a few tries before she as able to fill the pot and then she finished off, washed her hands and handed the pot to the man. "Thank you. Now, if you'd like to take a seat, I'll take your blood pressure and then I'll take a blood sample."

Sam sat down in the chair in front of his desk and he fitted the cuff and record her blood pressure, before he took a small blood sample to measure her blood sugar, cholesterol and blood type in case of an accident requiring a transfusion in an emergency. Once Sam's samples were sent off, he moved on.  
"Right, now I need to give you a breast examination to check for any abnormalities." Dr Barnet stated. "Do you check yourself at all?" He asked curiously as he pulled on a pair of gloves whilst Sam took her hoodie, shirt and sports bra off.  
"Yes, once a month." Sam replied.  
"Okay, it shouldn't be uncomfortable but just let me know if you have any pain or you want me to stop." He stated before he began the gentle examination for any lumps.

* * *

Obviously as they were testing far more men that day, they had more doctors - four to be exact. And even with those four doctors, they were taking forever to get the out the hundred odd men taking their assessment that weekend. Tom was having his medical and he had to go for his urine test. Only when he arrived in the bathroom the pot. He was mortified to find that there were two male officers in there standing watching the men, and there was just one long stainless steel urinal with no back or front in the middle of the room. Sam had warned him about being watched for the urine test and he had practiced by having her in the bathroom while he went sometimes, but he hadn't thought that there would be two officers, along with three other men who also had to give a urine sample. He became even more embarrassed when he found that one man entered after Tom and left with a pot of urine before he had even begun because he found such the task so difficult.

* * *

"Right." Dr Barnet began as he sat behind his desk whilst he read through Sam's blood and ursine results. "Blood results show raised levels of oestrogen and progestogen." He stated clinically. "Do you have any idea why that is?" He asked though he was pretty sure he knew why.  
"I'm on the combined pill." Sam admitted.  
"For what reason?" He asked curiously.  
"Um..." Sam couldn't say it was for birth control, because she wasn't supposed to be planning on having sex when deployed. "I used to have really heavy and painful periods so I began taking the pill and the symptoms have been relieved." She improvised.  
"Okay, and your blood sugar was a tiny bit on the high side but still within normal range, when is your next period going to be?"  
"In three days." Sam stated timidly.  
"Okay, that's fine. Some women's blood sugar spikes a few days before they're due." He stated. "Other than that, your blood and urine are clear so you need to go a have a meeting with your liaison to talk over what is going to happen tomorrow, and after that you can go back to the hotel for today." He explained.  
"Okay, thank you." Sam smiled as she got up and then the doctor showed her where to go.

* * *

**2pm**  
It was early afternoon by the time Sam got to her room that she had to herself as there were no other females - the hotel was used by both regular people, and by the assessment centre so the men who were also training would be staying there overnight too. Sam had an ensuite room with a big double bed to herself so after briefly unpacking what she would need in the morning, she sat down on the bed and took her phone out.

_Hi Tom, just to let you know I'm already back at the hotel in room 148 and I've got an entire double bed to myself tonight without some oaf taking up most of it :) See you soon x_

After sending the text, she knew he wouldn't get it until he had left the centre because his phone and bag would be in his locker until he left for the hotel and got a shuttle bus there.

* * *

**5pm**  
Sam was sitting on her bed cross legged reading off of her kindle when the door opened and Tom entered.  
"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Sam retorted. "And why have you got your suitcase? Haven't you been to your room yet?"  
"I have, but I've been assigned a room with a double bed with a man I barely know so we've agreed that it's best if I sleep in your room tonight." Tom explained as he put his suitcase next to hers by the wardrobe.  
"But-"  
"Oh cmon. There isn't actually any army personnel here at the hotel, and they're never going to know. And my room mate won't say anything. Pleeeeeeeeease." Tom pleaded.  
"I was looking forward to having an entire bed to myself tonight." Sam grumbled and Tom grinned.  
"Well now you get to cuddle up with me." He smiled as he pulled her off of the bed and into a hug. "How'd you get on today?"  
"Fine. I passed the medical with flying colours." Sam stated proudly.  
"Me too. Although I didn't know I would have men specifically watching my stream of urine into the pot." Tom stated.  
"Yeah well I had a bloke watching me give the sample so count yourself lucky." Sam argued.

"And I had a bloke touch my balls." Tom protested.  
"Well I had a bloke touching my breasts." Sam argued.  
"What?" Tom asked worriedly.  
"No, not like _that_. It was an examination for lumps." Sam stated and Tom relaxed. "Right, enough about the tests because I'm starving so can we go downstairs and get dinner?" Sam asked.  
"Yeah, sure. I could eat a horse."  
"I could eat an elephant." Sam said smugly.  
"Well I could eat a whale."  
"Stop arguing." Sam laughed.  
"What?"  
"We're both being childish, stop it." Sam smiled as she put her kindle under her pillow and pulled her hoodie on.  
"Right, what's the plan on what we have for dinner?" He asked curiously as they left the room, locked their door and then made their way downstairs to the hotel restaurant.  
"Um... It's probably best to eat a high carb, low fat diet but it's up to you." Sam replied, as they knew that they had their fitness training the next day which included a 1.5 mile timed run.  
"So a rack of BBQ ribs is out of the question then." Tom concluded.  
"Well have whatever you want, but I personally wouldn't have that. And don't even think about having a pint of beer." She said sternly.  
"How can I not think about it? You've just made me think about it!" Tom laughed and Sam playfully elbowed him as they entered the friendly restaurant and got a table for two. There were several tables with many seats, filled up with tough looking men talking loudly, and Sam and Tom recognised them from the assessment centre. But Sam and Tom chose a table in a corner away from the noise.

"Make any friends?" Sam asked as she picked up the menu.  
"Um... I'd say no because pretty much everyone was in it for themselves and barely said a word." Tom admitted.  
"So peeping Tom has no friends." Sam concluded.  
"Don't call me peeping Tom." He moaned.  
"But you are. Besides, it's not as if when you get a nickname in the army they'll call you it for the rest of your career." Sam said sarcastically and Tom narrowed his eyes at her.

"Good evening, I'm jasmine and I'll be your waitress for this evening." A young girl smiled as she approached their table. "Would you like to order your drinks?"  
"Um, I'll just have ice water please." Sam replied.  
"I'll have lemonade please." Tom replied.  
"Certainly, I'll be back soon." Jasmine smiled before she left the table.  
"Right, decisions decisions." Tom muttered as he scanned the menu for something healthy, yet satisfying after a long day.  
"How about we get the chicken platter for two?" Sam suggested.  
"Depends what it includes." Tom stated.  
"10 oven baked seasoned chicken strips with four regular sides." Sam read out.  
"Sounds perfect. What sides do we want...?" He trailed off as he looked down the menu.  
"How about... One garlic bread, one leafy green salad and two portions of chips?" Sam suggested.  
"Oh what, and this is a low fat, high carb meal is it?" Tom smirked.  
"So you don't want it then."  
"Ah, I didn't say that." He remarked.

* * *

**6:30pm**  
Sam and Tom had just returned to their room after filling up their stomachs, ready to use the energy for tomorrow's fitness tests.  
"Right, do you want a shower together?" Tom suggested.  
"Yeah, and then I'm going to go to bed; we have to be downstairs for the shuttle bus at 5am tomorrow." Sam stated as she took out her toiletry bag. "Do you-" Sam froze as there was a knock at the door.  
"Sergeant Nicholls." A stern female voice announced. Sam glanced at Tom who quickly disappeared into the ensuite and hid behind the door before she opens the door.  
"Ma'am." Sam greeted as she stood up straight with her hands behind her back.  
"At ease." She ordered and Sam relaxed with her hands by her sides. "It's good to have you back Major."  
"It's good to be back. Can't wait to get out there." Sam replied.  
"And your husband?" She questioned.  
"Sorry?"  
"How does your husband feel about joining up?" She asked.  
"Oh um, he's happy about it." Sam replied briefly.  
"Really? And where is he? I'd like to meet this man."  
"He's up in his room as far as I know." Sam lied.  
"Really? Because I've just checked and his room was empty." Ma'am stated.  
"Oh um, maybe he's down-"  
"He's in here isn't he?" Ma'am said bluntly and Sam began to stutter.  
"What makes you say that?" Sam protested.  
"Relax major Nicholls. You're not in trouble. But Sargent Marks is also checking the rooms so if I were you, I'd tell your husband to get up to his room ASAP." She said sternly. "Goodnight Major Nicholls." She said before she left and Tom came out of the bathroom.  
"Did you hear that?" Sam asked.  
"Yeah, I'll be back soon okay?" Tom said as he pecked Sam on the cheek before he ran out of the room.

* * *

Sam was sitting on the edge of he he double bed merely wrapped in a thick fluffy white towel when Tom reentered.  
"Did you get there before the Sargent arrived?" Sam asked curiously.  
"With seconds to spare." Tom said smugly. "C'mon, get in the shower." He ordered as he ripped the towel off of her, leaving her completely naked.  
"Tom!" Sam shrieked as she tried to grab the towel but Tom held it up higher than she could reach so she just ended up burying her head in Tom's chest because when her body was against his, he couldn't see it.  
"Are you going to stand there all night?" Tom joked as he looked down at her head of hair.  
"Depends on when you're going to give me the towel back." Sam retorted.  
"You can have the towel once you've shared a shower with me." Tom stated as he picked Sam up and held her against his chest as he walked her into the ensuite and kicked the door shut with his foot.

* * *

Tom flicked the light off before he settled down into the double bed and wrapped his arms around Sam and linked his fingers over her navel.  
"This mattress is really comfy." Tom stated.  
"Well don't get too used to it." Sam mumbled sleepily.  
"Aw is Samantha tired?" Tom said childishly.  
"Yes Samantha is, so be quiet or she'll elbow you in the balls." Sam threatened and Tom chuckled before he settled down for the night, as they had a long day ahead of them for their fitness assessment to join the army...

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sunday**

Sunday was usually Tom's lie in day when he wouldn't get out of bed until near midday at the earliest and even then it would only be to go to the toilet or to get food. But this Sunday was different, and so by 5am, Sam and Tom were on a shuttle bus from the hotel to the assessment centre. It was similar to the buses the they used in airports to transfer customers from a plane to the airport, and so it had no seats, only handrails and poles to keep yourself balanced. But Sam was too short to reach the ones above her without going on engraving tiptoes and she was in the middle of the coach so she just comfortably leant against Tom's torso and he wrapped his spare arm around her to keep her sturdy.

"Doesn't it feel weird that you're the only female here?" One man asked and Sam rolled her eyes before she kept her sight on Tom, and Tom only, to keep herself to herself. She could hear other men making comments about her without even trying to be discreet, but then one mouthy bloke who obviously intended to follow a career in aviation started making comments very loudly.  
"What's a similarity between women and planes? When they go quiet, you know something's wrong." He joked and several of the men chuckled whilst others gave Sam sympathetic looks. "What's the difference between a plane and a female? Airplanes can be flown at any time of the month." He joked and it appeared that his remarks were neither intelligent, nor funny to some of the others so Sam turned around to face the idiotic individual.  
"Y'know without stupid people, we would have no one to laugh at. So can everyone just give a round of applause to this individual for his contribution to society?" Sam retorted and thankfully, everyone else in the bus began clapping and cooing at the man who flushed red.  
"That's my girl." Tom said quietly to Sam who felt a smile tug at her lips.

"Listen, I'll probably leave the centre and be ready way before you because you'll have to wait as there's loads of men, but um, I've got the keys so I'll just wait for you in the car okay? In fact, if you give me a twenty minute warning or something, I can go and get us dinner from somewhere and then meet you in the car park." Sam suggested.  
"Sounds brilliant. But don't get anything small, I want a feast." Tom stated and Sam smiled.  
"When do you not? You have a bottomless pit instead of a stomach." Sam stated.  
"Yeah but you love me for it." Tom smiled as he bent down and kissed her softly on the lips.  
"Oi oi!" One of the men shouted and several men wolf whistled.  
"Pft, she's got a wedding ring and she's already cheating during training. Real faithful." The man who had made the airplane jokes retorted.  
"Yeah, I've got a wedding ring and so has he. Or are you too stupid to work it out?" Sam remarked as she held Tom's hand.

"Waaheeyy! You got told mate!" Someone announced and Sam just gave the idiot a dirty look before she looked back at her husband.  
"You're on fire today, aren't you?" Tom smiled.  
"Yeah but you love me for it." Sam mocked him before she went on her tiptoes and pecked him on the lips.  
"Get a room!" Someone shouted and Sam just rolled her eyes.

* * *

There were over 100 men sitting in a lecture hall whilst a Sargent explained about what was going to happen throughout the day, and because there was only one female, Sam had to join them too. But thankfully, she managed to get a seat next to Tom in the front row on one of the ends so Sam only had to sit next to him.  
"Right, Major Nicholls you are to go with Mr Read now for a warm up, before you complete the 1.5 mile run, and lads whilst she is doing the run, you'll be doing your warm up." He explained and then looked at Sam so she reluctantly got up and left the hall as she followed a man in camouflage gear out to the track. It was concrete with grass in the middle, and a concrete patio area at the side where there were benches for people to wait their turn.

"Right, you must perform this run in under 14 minutes 30 seconds." Mr Read said clearly. "And you'll be starting on the other side of the track because it's a mile long so you'll finish on this side after one and a half laps. You cannot stop, you cannot cut corners, you cannot walk. Are there any questions?" He asked as he walked with Sam across the middle of the track over to an orange cone.  
"Nope." Sam replied as she stretched her arms. She was wearing her running leggings, her favourite running shoes, a sports bra and a grey hoodie to keep her warm with her hair tied up in a ponytail.  
"Okay, I'll just give you a few minutes to warm up." He stated before he took his radio out and began speaking to other people so Sam began stretching her inner thighs, her knees and she rolled her ankles in circles before she took deep breaths to calm her down but she knew she'd easily beat the time. Sam was almost ready to begin when she saw all of the men came pouring out of the building and stood on the patio and sat on the benches. Sam couldn't see if Tom was there or not, but she suddenly felt she was under so much more pressure as the men were clearly going to be watching her. "Right, you ready?" Mr Read asked as he took out his stopwatch.

"Yes sir." Sam replied as she stood by the orange cone and took a deep breath.  
"On your marks, get set go."

* * *

Tom, who was in a plain navy green tshirt and black shorts, watched as Sam began running, and he felt so sorry for her as the men began chanting and cheering for her but he knew they were being sarcastic. And some were wolf whistling, whilst others made comments about her breasts but he knew she'd just be trying to ignore them. Lots of men were shouting at her to slow down because she'd never finish at that pace, but Tom was almost certain that she could.

"Oi, shut it now!" A man in charge shouted so loudly that some men covered their ears. All the men went silent as Sam ran past them and she didn't even give them a glance as she focused on her breathing and putting one foot in front of the other.

* * *

"10 minutes 12 seconds." Mr Read announced as Sam passed the line and then stopped as she took deep breaths. "Lads she's barely even broken a sweat and she's got a better time than most males so can we have a round of applause please?" He shouted and most if the men began clapping - of course, Tom was the most enthusiastic.

"Here, you left your water inside." Tom said kindly as he handed her the clear bottle and she took a few sips.  
"Thanks."  
"Ms Nicholls, the army's fastest time for the para troops is 9 minutes 45 seconds. Now that time for a female training to be a combat medic is remarkable." The man in charge said as he held out his hand.  
"Thank you." Sam said politely as she shook his hand.  
"Right, the first group of lads, you're up." He ordered.  
"What group are you?" Sam asked curiously whilst she continued to catch her breath back.  
"Group four." Tom stated.  
"Right well-"  
"Ms Nicholls, no time for chatting we have to get on." Mr Read ordered and Sam rolled her eyes at Tom before she turned around and followed the man.

* * *

**6pm**  
Tom walked out of the assessment centre along with a dozen other men who were in his group, where he found Sam sitting in the car, parked on the curb. He dumped his suitcase in the boot before he jumped in the front with Sam.  
"I passed." Tom said proudly as he placed his certificate on the dashboard.  
"Me too." Sam stated as she pulled away because she technically wasn't supposed to be parked there. "What time did you get for the 1.5 mile run?" Sam asked curiously.  
"I passed." Tom repeated.  
"Yes, but what time did you get? Let me guess... 12 and a half minutes?" Sam asked.  
"What? No! How unfit do you think I am!?" Tom protested.  
"Well what time did you get then?" Sam asked.  
"12 minutes 53 seconds." Tom grumbled and Sam had to stifle a laugh.  
"That's still really good though, considering you've had barely any training." She said reassuringly.  
"Thanks. What have we got for dinner?" He asked curiously.  
"You'll see in a minute." Sam replied.  
"But I'm hungry now." Tom whined.  
"You sound like a ten year old."  
"I am a ten year old."  
"Not with that face you're not." Sam remarked.  
"Oi!" Tom laughed.

A few minutes later, Sam pulled up outside a Harvester restaurant.  
"I thought you might want a rack of ribs for dinner." Sam said innocently as she grabbed her handbag.  
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Tom said dreamily as he jumped out of the car.  
"Only, when there's food involved." Sam stated as Tom linked arms with her and they entered the restaurant. "And you can have a few beers too because I'm driving home." She added.  
"Table for two?" A waiter asked as he grabbed two menus.  
"Yes please." Tom nodded. "He didn't give me any crayons." Tom moaned quietly to Sam as they made their way to a table in the busy restaurant, but thankfully they ended up towards the back of the restaurant by themselves.

"Would you like to order any drinks?" He asked as Sam and Tom took their seats.  
"I'll have a diet Pepsi and he'll have a Budweiser please." Sam replied as she knew that Tom would object to drinking - he'd offer to drive her home but she knew he'd want a beer as he hadn't been allowed one for several days in order to pass the blood test.  
"I'll be right back." The waiter smiled before he left the couple to it.  
"I was reading the newspaper in the car by the way, Russian military have taken over the whole of Crimea. And they're stopping all flights in and out of the there; the military have control of all the airports and the shipping ports so I'm guessing the army will be looking at tactics to invade soon." Sam explained as they both looked down the menu.  
"Well, we'll be out there to help them soon won't we?" Tom said proudly.  
"Mmhmm." Sam nodded.

* * *

**9pm**  
Sam had drove for the whole two hour journey, back to Holby, but when she parked in the car park to their flat, Tom hadn't stirred; his rack of ribs and two beers had let him fall asleep on a full stomach and he had slept the entire journey. Sam opened his car door and squatted down besides him because she knew he hated being woken suddenly.  
"Tom... Tom..." She sung. "C'mon you big lump, we're home." She smiled as Tom groggily opened his eyes and then had a good stretch before he finally got out of the car and they made their way up to their flat. The beers hadn't affected his mindset, it had just made him need a wee so he went to the toilet in their ensuite, but when he came out, he found Sam sitting on the bed and she had just come off of the phone.  
"Who was that?" He asked curiously as he sat besides her on the mattress.  
"Ma'am. She's sorted out our 14 week training course and she said she's emailed me the details for both of us." Sam stated as she grabbed their shared iPad from under her pillow, unlocked it and brought up her emails.  
"That was quick." Tom remarked.  
"Well, I suppose they're running at full capacity at the moment, they're probably trying to get everyone trained up as fast as possible. There's no way the training was 14 weeks when I joined last time." Sam stated. "Right, fourteen weeks in a training camp in Cardiff starting next Monday." Sam announced.

"Hopefully there'll be some other women there for you this time."  
"Ugh no thanks. I'd rather be the only female there." Sam stated.  
"Why?"  
"Because I've never come across a woman in the army who doesn't wear make up on duty, doesn't use their gender as an excuse to get out of cleaning the latrines or isn't bitchy." Sam stated as she used her finger to scroll down the details. "I can't wait to start." Sam smiled.  
"Why?" Tom laughed.  
"Because it's fun. Working in the ED is just working 9 til 5 and about half of the patients are drunken idiots whereas training to join the army is just so much more of a challenge. There's unpredictable hours, drills, workouts, obstacle courses." Sam listed.

"And of course there's the fact that you enjoy being fitter than most of the men there so when you beat them you earn their respect." Tom concluded.  
"Exactly. Then you don't get as many of the idiots who think it's funny to take the mick out of me because I'm female when I'm clearly more intelligent and fitter than them."  
"Oh you're certainly fitter than them." Tom stated.  
"Why thank you Major Kent. Well, technically you're not Major yet, but you will be soon if you put the work in." Sam stated.  
"Stop rambling on and tell me the secrets as to how to pass the training easily." He ordered.  
"There isn't any. Just put the effort in, don't piss the sergeants off, don't piss anyone else off, do as your told and you'll be fine." Sam stated. "Anyway, it's really a misconception about how fit you have to be to join the army. You really don't have to be hench and muscular, the point of training is to improve your fitness. I mean, you have to pass the test of the 1.5 mile run, sit ups, press ups etc. But even if you fail in one, you can pull your grade up in the other so you really don't have to be tremendously fit."

"I _am_ tremendously fit." Tom protested.  
"Of course you are dear." Sam said sarcastically as she handed him the iPad and went into the ensuite without closing the door so they could talk whilst she got ready for bed after the long weekend.  
"We'll have to go shopping in the week to get things for the kit list." Tom stated. "It says that you only need enough underwear and stuff for a week at a time because they have washing facilities there, and we need money for the first week to buy our training kits and stuff." He explained whilst Sam brushed her teeth.  
"You do realise that we're going to be training apart from each other for most of our time there right?" Sam queried as she poked her head around the door so she could see him.  
"We'll still be able to see each other at meals and in the evening won't we?" He asked.  
"It depends how strict the training centre is. I didn't go to Cardiff, I went to Manchester last time." Sam replied. "But then, females stayed on another floor, we trained separately and we were in the same cantine but we were on different tables."  
"We'll find a way to be together. Just remember, after lights out meet me in the utility room." Tom joked.  
"Yeah. In fact, why don't we meet in the sergeants room?" Sam suggested mockingly. "I'm sure we won't get caught there." She said sarcastically.

"Hey, how about because we haven't got any family to send us letters, we could write to each other if we don't manage to meet up?" Tom suggested.  
"And what? Tuck the envelope under our dorm doors?" Sam laughed.  
"I'm being serious!" Tom protested.  
"We'll see." Sam replied sheepishly.  
"Ow... Ow ow ow ow." Tom moaned as he clutched his lower leg.  
"What?" Sam burst out of the bathroom in a panic as she heard her husband in pain.  
"Cramp." He muttered as he held leg with both hands and screwed his eyes shut.

"Stand up then you moron." Sam ordered as she pulled him up from his shoulders. He put a little bit of weight as he held onto Sam's shoulders whilst he slowly put more pressure on affected limb.  
"Oh thank god." He whispered once the pain had stopped.  
"Better now?"  
"Yeah, thanks." Tom smiled and Sam shook her head at him in disapproval that he hadn't acted sooner. "Still a bit achy though."  
"I've got some deep heat in the kitchen, do you want me to rub some of that in for you?" Sam asked.  
"Well now that you mention it, my body aches all over now." He joked and Sam rolled her eyes before she got the tube of deep heat and then reentered the bedroom.

"Right, where do you want it?" She asked.  
"Um... The backs of my legs and backs of my upper arms please." Tom replied as he pulled his shirt and trousers off and then laid face down on the bed.

"Fourteen weeks of boot camp." Sam stated. "Y'know, you're not going to get your Friday night beers, or Sunday lie ins for a while."  
"Saturday afternoon football?" He asked.  
"Maybe." Sam replied.  
"Y'know, I think sneaking about to see each other is going to make the time I spend with you even more enjoyable." Tom groaned as Sam rubbed the gel into his upper arms whilst he rested his head on his pillow.  
"Promise me you're happy doing all of this. Because I love the idea of us both being in the army but I won't enjoy it, if I know that you're not happy."  
"I promise I'm happy. It's like you said, combat medicine is going to be a lot more interesting than working in the ED because for starters, a drunk patient will be a rare one, and there'll be so much more for me to learn. Besides I'm improving my fitness which is something I've always wanted to do, and once we get deployed, we'll be working with each other, rather than training without each other." Tom explained.

Sam rubbed the deep heat lovingly into his skin to make him more comfortable, and once she was done, she changed into a pair of shirts and a vest top and slid under the cover on her side of the bed.  
"Night night." Sam whispered as she pecked Tom on the cheek and then switched the light off.  
"Night." Tom replied sleepily. "Don't let the beg bugs bite." He added.  
"How old are you?" Sam asked, followed by a giggle as Tom smiled to himself.  
"I can't remember." He admitted.  
"Go to sleep, we've got lots to do this week." Sam ordered.  
"Technically, seeing as it's Sunday. We've got lots to do next week." Tom corrected.  
"Do you want to sleep on the sofa?" Sam threatened.  
"No." Tom replied quietly like a naughty schoolboy.  
"Then go to sleep." Sam ordered.  
"Yes Ma'am." He smirked but he quickly closed his eyes so he didn't see her reaction. Sam gave him evils before she closed her eyes room and settled down for the night.

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	4. Chapter 4

One hundred and twenty soldiers stood in a grid formation in a camouflage field jacket and trousers, khaki beret and combat boots with perfect posture and their hands behind their backs as they listened to their presentation for their graduation ceremony. There was one column of twelve women, and nine columns of men as they stood proudly after fourteen long weeks of training. They had faced numerous obstacle courses, camping out in there rain, building shelters, learnt how to handle guns and most importantly, they had focused onto improved their fitness until they were at their peak.

Sam had no idea where her husband was amongst the mass of people who had a large audience of proud family members and friends of the soldiers including Fletch and Zoe as Sam and Tom had no relatives themselves. Everyday, they had met each other three times in the canteen where thankfully, women were allowed to eat with men and visa versa. But throughout their training, the genders had been kept apart and they now had just minutes until they would be dismissed and given a shirt break until they were deployed during which, Sam and Tom would spend every possible minute together after such a long time of separation.

"Dismissed." A man shouted and everyone stood at ease before the audience ran in to greet their children, siblings, parents or friends. Sam looked around the crowd until her eyes finally fell on her husband who was talking to Fletch and Zoe. She ran over and practically leapt into his arms as he picked her up and swung her around.  
"I take it you're pleased to see _us_ then." Fletch joked and Tom put Sam down after giving her a passionate kiss on the lips.  
"Sorry, thank you for coming." Sam smiled as she shook his hand and then gave Zoe a quick hug.  
"Congratulations, you're making us all so proud of you two." Zoe stated.  
"So when're you two joining up then?" Tom joked.  
"Me and mud do not mix." Zoe stated.  
"Yeah and if she left, she'd be leaving Connie in charge of the ED." Fletch added.  
"Have I mentioned how much I missed you?" Tom quirked as he cocked his head and gave Sam a passionate kiss.

"Oi, you two cut it out." An officer ordered and Sam and Tom immediately pulled apart and then bit their lips whilst Zoe and Fletch smirked at them.  
"How have you two managed without each other?" Fletch sighed sarcastically.  
"We met up most nights." Sam stated as she gazed lustfully into Tom's eyes.  
"Oh right. And you just met up yes? No breaking army rules at all?" Fletch laughed and Sam just stood there innocently.  
"Right, we'd better go and get our stuff." Tom stated.  
"Do you know where you're getting deployed yet?" Zoe asked curiously as she and Fletch followed Tom back to their dorms to get their large holdalls.  
"Not yet no. It depends where we're needed but we've got a little while until we're deployed so we'll just relax a little bit for now." Sam replied. "But medics always go out in pairs, and we know that me and Tom are definitely together." She added.

"That's great. Although I bet you can't wait to see Tom in a helicopter again, eh?" Fletch joked as they remembered that the first time they had first met Tom, he had just gotten out of a petrifying helicopter journey.  
"I'll be fine." Tom protested but he knew he'd have to face that obstacle when he got there.  
"Yeah, he'll have me to keep him calm." Sam said kindly as she heaved her bag onto her back.  
"Oi, let me take that." Fletch ordered as he took her bag.  
"Zoe, do you want to take Tom's?" Sam smirked.  
"My heels already sink into the grass outside, let alone with added weight." Zoe moaned as they made their way out to the busy car park.

"Listen, thanks for coming here to see us but I think we're going to stop somewhere for dinner before we head home." Tom said and fletch and Zoe both knew what he was planning, but they decided to play along.  
"Alright. But you have to make sure that you keep in contact. Yes?" Zoe said sternly.  
"Will do." Sam nodded.  
"Alright, keep safe. And don't take any stupid risks." Fletch ordered as he gave Sam a hug.  
"Pft. Me? Do something stupid? You've got the wrong person." Sam joked as she pulled away from the hug. "Bye." She smiled.  
"Bye." Zoe called.  
"Bye bye." Fletch said as the pair began to make their way to their car.  
"We're not actually going for dinner are we?" Sam stated rather than asked.  
"Nope. But we can go for dinner after." Tom winked as they both jumped in the car. They drove a few minutes out of the city until they were down an old country lane before Tom pulled up in an empty car park. He took the keys out, pulled the handbrake on, and then reclined Sam's chair and climbed on top of her to make love for the first time without the fear of getting caught for weeks...

* * *

The next morning, Sam and Tom were having a well earned lie in after weeks and weeks of early rises and night duties. Tom had his wife in his arms, and they had slept in that position for the first time in weeks. He watched as Sam arose from her slumber whilst she turned in his arms to face her husband.  
"Morning." He smiled.  
"Oh it is so much better seeing your ugly mug in the morning than seeing that bitch's face." Sam admitted.  
"Oi!" Tom laughed. "You haven't changed at all, if you don't get up early then you're a grump until you've had a shower or had some breakfast." Tom stated.  
"What is for breakfast?" Sam croaked.  
"Nothing at the moment. We haven't got any food in considering we've been away for 14 weeks." Tom stated. "I'll get dressed, pop down the road and get us something." Tom stated as he reluctantly rolled out of bed.

"No wait. I'll come with you. We can do a big shop." Sam stated as she slipped out from under the duvet and then went into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.  
"How about tonight we get comfy and watch a DVD on the sofa?" Tom suggested as he entered the bathroom and began to relieve himself into the toilet.  
"No please, just come in here whenever you want." Sam said sarcastically.  
"There is nothing worse, than morning wood." Tom complained.  
"I'm trying to brush my teeth here!" Sam protested.  
"Yeah, and I'm _trying_ to have a wee!" Tom argued.  
"I was here first."  
"Well I was _born_ first." Tom retorted.  
"It's technically my flat." Sam stated.  
"Well you're _technically_ mine." Tom joked.  
"I am not yours! You don't own me." Sam stated sternly.  
"Okay, okay. I'm finished now. Happy?" Tom smirked as he walked out of the bathroom after pulling is boxers back up.

"You didn't wash your hands." Sam moaned.  
"I don't need to. Both my penis and my urine are sterile." Tom said from the bedroom as he began to get changed. Sam rolled her eyes before she proceeded to wash her face to get ready for the day.

* * *

Later on in the afternoon, Sam and Tom were sitting on the sofa watching a football match after they had just had a nice salad for lunch, and whilst Tom was engrossed in the football, Sam checked her emails.  
"Tom." Sam began.  
"Hang on." Tom held his hand up to mute her as he sat on the edge of the sofa. "Go on... Hit it... Hit it!" Tom shouted at the screen when finally the ball went into the back of the net. "What a goal!" Tom proclaimed as he jumped up. "Sorry, what were you saying?" He asked as he sat down next to his wife who was on the laptop.  
"Y'know those bombings in Crimea where Russia have taken over the military bases."  
"Yes."  
"Well we're going to be a part of a team who are going to try and take over one of the military bases closest to the Ukraine border and we'll be the medics for the mission." Sam explained.  
"When?" He asked curiously.  
"Er... It says it's a top secret mission, so in order to surprise the enemy, we'll fly to Warsaw in Poland by the SAS, and then we'll be driven through Ukraine and then we'll sneak into Crimea and attack." Sam explained as she scanned the email.  
"You didn't say when." Tom stated.  
"Oh right um... We have to meet at Heathrow airport on Monday morning in exactly 2 weeks time." Sam stated.  
"We're finally joining the war." Tom said proudly.  
"Mm. There just really isn't any need for all this. If bloody Putin had just not organised that referendum about Crimea, then the whole world wouldn't be in this mess." Sam complained.  
"Well... What can you do?" Tom sighed as he tucked a bit of Sam's hair behind her ear. "D'ya know what I missed a lot in the last 14 weeks? Me and you, making love in our bed without being scared that we're going to get caught and without being too tired from training." Tom stated.  
"Wow. Don't hold back, tell me what you really think." Sam joked.  
"Come on, my beautiful wife." Tom said softly as he held his hands out and pulled her off of the sofa.  
"What happened to 'let's get comfy on the sofa and watch a DVD tonight?'" Sam mocked as she followed him into their bedroom.  
"Well we'll be making our own movie." Tom joked but Sam froze.  
"You'd better be joking."  
"What?"  
"You haven't ever filmed us have you?" She asked seriously.  
"What? No, of course not. I'd ask if I wanted to anyway." Tom said reassuringly.  
"You promise?"  
"Yes I promise, I've never filmed us in that way." Tom said kindly and Sam relaxed a little. "Why would you be so worried if I had?" He asked curiously.

"Because I just don't like the idea of there being a film of me doing something so personal." Sam replied.  
"I had no idea you were so sensitive." Tom smirked.  
"Haha." Sam said sarcastically before she unzipped her hoodie.  
"So you're still up for it then?" He smirked.  
"Yeah. Unless of course, you're not. In which case-" Sam was interrupted as Tom planted his lips on hers and then pushed her back on the bed to make love to her once again.

Their first mission had been planned with the precision of a military operation, as they say, but with the first physical step in the war, after negotiation and talking had gotten them nowhere. But would the married couple leave the place alive?

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	5. Chapter 5

Sam and Tom had just boarded the commercial airline plane that would fly them to Warsaw, Poland. They had their holdalls below, that were fairly light, as they were yet to receive their army gear and kit. They were on a plane with other people, who had no idea what the couple were going to do once they stepped off of that plane, whereas most of the others would be going on holiday, returning home or travelling for business because the people involved in their mission had to keep it top secret, and so they had to get to Poland by different means.

"Are you alright?" Sam asked kindly as she took Tom's hand in hers whilst they sat in their seats with Sam next to the window and Tom besides her.  
"What makes you think otherwise?" Tom protested shakily.  
"Because your hand is sweaty and you're clearly nervous." Sam stated. "I thought it was just helicopters you didn't like." She said softly.  
"It is."  
"Then why-"  
"Can you just pull the shutter down please?" Tom demanded and Sam looked besides her out of the window where the plane had begun to move along the runway.  
"Yeah, sure." Sam smiled as she pulled the blind down to obstruct the view. "Here. It'll stop your ears from popping." She said as she offered him a polo. But he merely shook his head as he focused on the back of the headrest of the chair in front of him. She gathered that he probably felt a little nauseous, so she just put the polos away, and held his hand to reassure him that she was there for him.

To Tom, it seemed like forever, when it was really only 10 minutes until they were up in the air and the seatbelt sign switched off. Sam looked up at Tom who had his eyes closed as he tried to take his mind off of things so she put the armrest between them up, and snuggled into his side forcing him to wrap his arm around her shoulders.  
"It's early and we've got a couple of hours. Try and get some sleep." Sam said softly. And once she had closed her eyes, she felt Tom rest his head against hers which caused her to smile.

* * *

Sam and Tom woke simultaneously as the pilot spoke over the tannoy, telling people to fasten their seat belts for landing. Sam was relieved to realise that Tom had been asleep too so he hadn't been suffering for the whole 2 1/2 hour flight. They put their seat belts on, put the arm rest down and then Sam took Tom's hand in hers again for support.  
"You sleep okay?" He asked kindly.  
"Like a baby." Sam nodded. "You?"  
"Yeah, me too." Tom replied. Sam knew he wasn't very talkative when he was scared or nervous, so the descent to the ground was silent, but she felt him squeeze her hand harder and harder until they touched down on the run way. They quickly went through customs and collected their bags and then waited just outside the airport for a taxi.

* * *

Sam and Tom were the last to arrive in a small country home on the outskirts of Poland, near the Ukrainian border. And there were 6 other men sitting in the small, cosy living room with the fire roaring to keep them warm.  
"Right, take a seat." The gentleman who had let Sam and Tom in offered and so they both sat down on a two seater sofa. "Okay, I'm Ryan. And I'm the man in charge of this operation." He stated. "Anyone else going to introduce themselves?" He prompted.  
"I'm Mark, I was previously in the bombs disposal unit before I was called here."  
"I'm Charlie, armed foot soldier."  
"I'm George, first deployment." And soon, they went around Louis and Will too, leaving just Sam and Tom.  
"I'm Sam, previously served in afghan as a combat medic." Sam stated.  
"And I'm Tom, it's my first deployment too."

"Partners? Or friends?" Ryan asked curiously - Sam and Tom had their wedding rings in their rucksacks to keep them safe - and because they couldn't be worn during active service - so they obviously weren't aware of their status.  
"Married." Sam stated.  
"Oooooohh!" Some of the men teased and Sam felt her cheeks blush a little.  
"Right. Now, the plan of action is to invade Base Armitage. It used to be home to 200 reserve Crimean soldiers, but it's now home to an unknown number of Russian soldiers. Now you're provably thinking that there's no way that just eight of us can take it over, and you're right. There's actually about 400 soldiers including us who are in on this mission, but because we need to keep it secret, we obviously can't all go and check in in a hotel in Ukraine for a few nights and then attack, we need to be discreet..." Ryan explained.

* * *

It had been a long day, and Sam and Tom were in the back seats of a vauxhall zafira whilst they drove through the darkness. All 400 of the British army troops who were involved in the operation to take over a single military base in Crimea were beginning to make their way to the base, and they were little more than half an hour away. All vehicles were coming from different directions to surprise the enemy, and thankfully, because Sam and Tom were medics, they wouldn't be going in on the first attack - they would be tending to any casualties.

"Right, get your bags on. When we arrive there's no fucking about we wanna get in there ASAP after arrival." Ryan ordered and so everyone pulled on their large camouflage rucksacks onto their backs and clicked together the chest and hip straps.  
The journey was silent as they sat in darkness on the way to the base, when suddenly Ryan the driver, slammed the brakes on.  
"What the-" He began and Sam and Tom looked forward to see in he he headlights that there were two armed men pointing a gun straight towards the vehicle. "Right, everyone stay nice and quiet." Ryan ordered as he discreetly pushed the button to lock all of the doors. Sam froze as Tom held her hand, and she jumped out of her skin when she realised that there was a man standing by the window just inches from her. He also had a gun and the group recognised the sound of a helicopter that was very close to them.

"Sam-" Tom began.  
"Sshh." Sam interrupted harshly. And a few moments of silence passed by as the men got closer to the van. Suddenly, the boot of the car opened and Sam felt a gun get pushed against her head.  
"Out. Now!" A man with a strong Russian accent ordered.  
"I love you." Sam whispered to Tom as she climbed out between the gap in the two seats and landed on the grit pavement.  
"Everybody out!" He repeated loudly and Tom scrambled out too, only to be grabbed, blindfolded and forced to walk somewhere, but he didn't know where. Or more importantly, he didn't know where his wife was. He noticed the sound of the helicopter's blades getting louder and louder - no, they weren't putting him on a helicopter were they?

* * *

Tom was sat with his eyes blindfolded and he hadn't a clue where he was. He could only hear people talking in a foreign language but he knew for certain he was in a helicopter as he had felt the takeoff and he absolutely hated the situation he was in. His hands were tied together in his lap, and he still had his rucksack on his back when finally, he felt the blindfold get ripped off.

"Silent." One man ordered and Tom's eyes took a while to adjust to the dark helicopter with only the lights coming from the cockpit. Tom was surveying his surroundings when the man spoke again. "Silent." He repeated and Tom looked opposite him to see none other than his wife sitting in the same position as him with her knees up to her chest and her hands tied in front of her with her bag on her back. The man had only just taken her blindfold off before he went and sat near the front of the helicopter no more than a few metres away from them.

Tom looked at Sam who appeared to be holding up.  
"You okay?" She mouthed and Tom nodded and gave a small reassuring smile however he was far from okay as he had no idea where he was, he had fears over the safety of his wife, and he hated being in a helicopter - but thankfully, he couldn't see how far they were above the ground because it was pitch black and it was the view that usually made him worse.

* * *

They had been flying for hours when both of their attention was drawn as the men in the cockpit began speaking in Russian and it almost sounded as if they were in a panic. Suddenly, the side door was opened and the man who had taken their blindfolds off, pulled a balaclava on to cover his face, and sat on the edge of the helicopter, holding a machine gun pointing outwards into the darkness. Another man came from the cockpit, threw Tom across the floor in front of Sam and opened the other side door and sat in the same position with a machine gun. He slowly sat up - which was difficult because his hands were tied together - but he manoeuvred himself next to his wife and leant against the side like her.  
"What's happening?" Tom whispered because he was sure that the men wouldn't be able to hear them as the doors were open and so the wind was creating a lot of noise.  
"I don't know, but I think we're going lower. And I think they said something about England. Maybe English troops are following us?" Sam guessed quietly. They then felt the helicopter take a quick descent until they felt the pressure of going up once more.

Then time just seemed to zoom by as shots were fired - presumably from both enemies as they felt the helicopter was hit by bullets from the back. Sam and Tom huddled together as much as they could with their hands tied together when Tom spotted a knife that he could use to untie them. He began to crawl across the helicopter and Sam followed him because she didn't know what he was doing. When suddenly, the helicopter swerved to dodge ammunition and the whole helicopter tipped to one side. With their hands tied together, Sam and Tom were helpless as they rolled onto their sides, and continued rolling until they felt the cold surface of the helicopter beneath them disappear and they knew that they were falling - which they instinctively presumed, would be the end...

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Day 1**

Sam opened her sore eyes only to be momentarily blinded by such a bright light so she screwed her eyes shut and turned over so she was facing down on the surface that she was laying on, which seemingly felt like sand. She almost felt paralysed with aching limbs, a heavy bag on her back, strapped to her by her hips and chest, and her wrists tied together. Suddenly, she realised that she was wet, but she was oddly warm as the sun was beaming down on her in her camouflage army jacket and trousers with combat boots.

She finally felt able to open her eyes and looked in front of her, to see that after several metres of white sand, there was what looked like a jungle - but no sign of other humans. She could hear the waves, gently lapping up onto the beach and the gentle wind causing the trees to sway.  
"Sam?" She heard and she twisted her neck to see a dark silhouette of a human where the beach met the horizon in the distance. "Sam!" She heard him shout and it finally clicked that she recognised that voice. She tried to move her lethargic limbs but from his point of view, she looked like she was struggling so he threw his heavy rucksack off of his back and dived down onto the wet sand in front of her, where she was just a couple of metres from the ocean where she had washed up on the beach after landing in the water when she had fallen out of the low flying helicopter.  
"Tom..." Sam managed to croak.  
"It's okay... Sshh, I'm here. You're okay, you're safe." Tom said softly as he used his pocket knife to cut her wrist restraint open and then he helped her onto her feet before he took the bag off of her back and put it besides his heavy bag.  
"I love you." Was all Sam could say as Tom wrapped his arms around her wet, clothed body and pulled her into a hug.  
"I love you too." Tom replied. "Are you okay? Are you hurt at all?" He asked worriedly.

"I'm just a bit sore." Sam admitted.  
"Yeah me too." Tom nodded and as the couple pulled apart, they looked around them. Behind them was the clear blue ocean, whilst in front of them was the beach, followed by jungle. "Where are we?" He asked eventually.  
"I don't know." Sam admitted feebly. Suddenly, the only sound of the waves and the trees swaying in the wind was interrupted as Sam vomited down onto the sand.  
"It's okay... I threw up too." Tom admitted softly as he rubbed her back to comfort her as she bought up a second lot. "It's mainly water, you must've swallowed some last night... You finished?" He asked kindly and Sam nodded as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Whilst he let Sam recover, he noticed a large stump of rock just a couple of metres away from the beach surrounded by water that made him realised something. When he had woken up he'd seen that rock, and decided to walk along the beach to his right hand side. And he had walked for less than half a hour until he had found her, so he had circled the small island completely.  
"Right um... Phone. I need to see if there's signal." Sam said as she tried to conjure a plan in her head so that she knew what she had to do next and she wasn't just improvising. She got on her knees and opened her camouflage rucksack that was damp, only to find that everything inside was soaking wet, except for the one thing that she had in a ziplock bag : her box of the contraceptive pill. She took out her phone and water dripped off of it. "Okay fine. Right, we need to make our way inland to see if-"  
"Sam there's nothing here." Tom stated helplessly.  
"What?"  
"I woke up on there beach there by that rock, and I walked the whole way around this island in no time. I didn't see a single person or sign of human activity - this island is uninhabited." Tom stated.

"But... But I don't understand we were in Poland and it was cold, then Ukraine and then in Crimea, and then the helicopter and... What are we supposed to do?" She whimpered. "We have no communications, we have no food, no clean water - we have nothing. And we're stuck in the middle of no where." Sam fell from her knees to her backside onto the sand before she hung her head in her hands and closed her eyes.  
"But we've got each other, that's what matters." Tom said reassuringly as he sat next to her on the sand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.  
"And what about the rest of our team? What about the 398 other soldiers who were going to invade that military base? The Russians obviously knew about our plan so what if they've been taken hostage? Or killed?"  
"Don't go through the what ifs, you know that's not going to help anything." Tom stated. "Look, why don't we lay our things out to dry, to give us something to do?" Tom suggested. "Our phones might dry out." He added.

Sam felt Tom get up besides her and she saw in the corner of her eye that he was beginning to unpack his bag on the golden sand under the beaming sun to dry - the climate was so hot that there was no way they could be any where near Crimea anymore, after all they had been flying for hours in the helicopter. She was just about to join him when he offered her something, and she turned to see him holding her wedding ring that glistened in the sun, and he had just put his ring on too. She gave a small smile as he slipped the ring onto her finger for her and then kissed her hand.  
"We're going to be just fine. I'm sure the army already know that we're gone and they're sending out a search party as we speak." Tom stated.  
"Stop talking crap." Sam laughed lightly. "I don't need you to try and fill me with false hope... We're stuck here aren't we?"  
"I hope not." Tom admitted. "Look, we will be rescued. Whether it's by a search party, or a fishing boat." He stated. "But hey, this is like the honeymoon we never had." Tom joked. "And do you know what takes place on a honeymoon?" He smirked.  
"Yes but not now. I'm dirty, I'm tired, I'm wet and I'm hungry." Sam grumbled.  
"Oh, apart from that, you're fine then!" Tom joked and Sam couldn't help but smile as it tugged at her lips.

* * *

"Zoe." Fletch began as he approached her with the staff iPad in the middle of cubicles.  
"Is that Mrs Carmichael's results?" Zoe asked.  
"No um, it's a news article."  
"Fletch I don't have time for-"  
"Zoe, you need to read this." Fletch stated solemnly, and Zoe became worried as she took the iPad and then began to read the BBC article.

'_Almost 300 soldiers are currently unaccounted for after a top secret mission in Crimea was not so secret. The Russian infantry who were guarding the base that 400 British soldiers were trying to take back for Ukraine had found out about the operation and many of the soldiers were taken away from the scene. There are 33 confirmed deaths, and almost 70 men and women who are safe and are being flown back to the UK.'_

"You don't know that that's Sam and Tom, and you don't even know if they've been deployed yet." Zoe stated as she handed him the iPad. She could tell by his worried face what he was thinking.  
"Zoe listen!" Fletch ordered as he stopped the woman from leaving the room. "I was down as Sam and Tom's next of kin, I've just had two phone calls, they're two of the unaccounted soldiers." Fletch explained and Zoe's face fell.  
"And what do they think has happened to the unaccounted soldiers? Prisoners of war? Hostages?" Zoe asked.  
"They don't know. They only know from the survivors that some men and women were taken away in lorries or vans, and others were taken away by helicopters." Fletch replied.  
"Right um... Well do you want to take today off? If your mind isn't going to be on he he job then-"  
"No, I'd rather work though it, take my mind of things." Fletch admitted.  
"Okay, but keep me updated yeah?"  
"Yep, will do." Fletch nodded, but he knew he was going to have a hard time focussing on work, as all he could think about was his best friend, and the man that she clearly loved so much...

* * *

Sam and Tom had laid out all of their camouflage gear on the sand under the sun in an attempt to dry them, whilst they redesigned the clothes that they were wearing then, using their pocket knives. Sam was wearing her combat boots, with her camouflage trousers cut into short shorts with just her black sports bra on because as the day progressed, it had only gotten hotter. Tom on the other hand had nothing on his muscular torso, and knee length camouflage shorts on along with his combat boots.  
"Right, I need the toilet." Tom announced as he put his knife in his pocket and then began to walk to the jungle.  
"Thank you for letting me know that." Sam said sarcastically before she knelt down by her phone that had been laid out on top of her bag to dry because she didn't want it getting too hot. It was still a little bit wet so she left it there, when suddenly she heard her husband.  
"Sam! Come here!" He shouted and Sam leapt to her feet and then legged it into the jungle just several metres away. Tom had to grab her because she was running so fast, in case she fell in, as Tom had just found a blue lagoon with a beautiful waterfall. And from the lagoon was a river that presumably lead out to sea.  
"Wow." Sam whispered, though she had thought that he had found some kind of human life or something that could rescue them.  
"You said you felt dirty and it's fresh water." Tom stated as he squatted down and cupped a little of the clear water into his mouth. "So shall we have a shower under the waterfall in a minute?" He suggested.

"Maybe later, we still need to get everything sorted before it gets dark." Sam stated. "And because this is probably our cleanest source of water, no peeing anywhere near here or it'll just be washed into the water." Sam said sternly.  
"Well where am I supposed to go then?" Tom protested.  
"Just go over there away from here." Sam stated as she pointed down the jungle into an area filled with trees and grass on the ground.  
"Fine." Tom huffed before he walked in the direction that she had pointed. Once he had gone, Sam squatted down besides the lagoon and cupped some of the water in her hand. Reluctantly, she took a sip, and it didn't taste odd at all so she had a little more before she headed back to the beach where her things were.

Tom returned to the beach after relieving himself to see Sam sitting cross legged on the sand with her head buried in her hands. He got a little closer to hear that she was trying not to cry as she took deep breaths, but he then heard her sniffle. He knelt down on the sand behind her and engulfed her in his arms.  
"What's the point in even pretending that we can survive here?" She asked. "We're stranded, we don't know where we are, nobody else knows where we are, we've got no food, water from a lagoon that is probably ridden with cholera and other bugs. And we're only going to end up starving to death. Tom we might as well just use the pocket knives and go for a major artery becau-"  
"Don't even consider that. Please, I never want to hear you speak about that." Tom pleaded softly as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "We might not have all of that, but we've got each other." He stated. "The best thing to do, is for us to have a plan in our heads so first of all, we're going to set up a camp for the night, and get a fire ready to light for when it gets dark - I've got matches in my bag. And then we're going to lay the rocks out and make a big SOS on the beach. And we can try and find some fruit to eat, and then we'll have a shower in the lagoon." He said sternly because he knew that Sam would cope far easier if she knew what she had to do. "C'mon, come and help me find fire wood." Tom stood up, put his hands under Sam's arms and lifted her up off of the sand so she rolled her eyes before she followed him into the jungle.

* * *

Sam was sat on the sand on the beach, watching the colourful sunset on the horizon where the sky met the sea - the sea that appeared endless as there was no sign of other land, or even any ships. Unfortunately, the water damage had been too much for both of their phones - not that they had much hope of getting a signal anyway - and they were yet to make sense of what happened. But they had made progress. They had made a little settlement for the night where they would sleep at the edge of the beach where it was covered by a few dotted palm trees, and they were going to sleep on several green palm leaves laid out to make it comfier than the sand. And they both had their bags packed with their things that had now dried, but they had very little: a few changes of clothes and underwear, a box of matches, a stainless steel water bottle, a pocket knife, their combat boots and a pair of flip flops/sandals each. They didn't have any toiletries what so ever because they had planned on getting supplies when they arrived at the base because they had to pack their bags as light as they possibly could.

They had also created a large '**SOS**' sign out of rocks on the wide beach to attract attention from anything in the sky above them.

"Look what I found." Tom said proudly as he sat next to Sam on the warm sand with a brown, hairy coconut in his hand. "Here, drink some of this." He offered as he handed Sam the object with a small triangular hole that Tom had made with his knife. Slowly, Sam tipped the coconut up and poured some of the milky water into her mouth.  
"Mm. Much better than water." She forced a smile. But she was still thirsty and there was nothing left inside of the fruit. And her stomach was almost making her feel a little sick because she was so hungry - she hadn't eaten in over 24 hours.  
"I don't think there's a lot of liquid in there, but the inside should be ready to eat. Tom stated as he used his knife to slice the coconut open and cut a chunk for Sam where the husk was on one side, and the soft white flesh was on the other. They both eagerly took bites off the fruit and ate all that they could until their piece was only a bit of the tough husk that was left so Tom cut them another bit each until they had eaten the entire flesh of the coconut. "Right, shall we go for a shower, and then get the fire going and settle down?" Tom suggested.

"It's getting a bit cold, I think I'll leave the shower until tomorrow morning so my hair will dry quicker." Sam replied as they both stood up and headed to their small camp where they had set up a fire with plenty of firewood to add to it throughout the night to keep them warm. Under the scattered trees, it was a little darker as the sun was almost set. But Tom lit the fire using a match before he laid next to Sam on the palm leaves, wrapped his arm around her abdomen and they both looked out onto the ocean as the waves lapped up onto the sand.  
"Someone will be coming for us." Sam said but she didn't believe it at all. She was just trying to persuade herself not to lose hope.  
"Of course they are. In the army, no one gets left behind." Tom stated. And a silence lingered over them for a few minutes as they watched the sun disappear from the sky and the fire's presence became evermore important.

"If you wake before me in the morning, don't wonder off will you? Just tell me where you're going please." Sam said questioningly as she realised that she sounded a little clingy, but she just didn't want to wake up alone on the strange island.  
"Wake up before you? You do realise this is _me_ you're talking to right?" He laughed. "Knowing you, you'll probably wake up and go for a run around the island." Tom joked.  
"That's not a bad idea actually. I might do that before I have a shower."  
"And burn up the remaining energy that you have left inside of you? Don't, that's a bad idea Sam." Tom warned.  
"Fine." She huffed as she turned around his his arms with her back facing the fire two metres away to keep her warm and then snuggled her face into his chest.

"Are you warm enough?" Tom asked kindly.  
"Mmhmm." Sam mumbled.  
"No you're not. You're arms are cold." Tom stated. "Here, wear this." He ordered as he grabbed a camouflage jacket from his holdall and once Sam had sat up, he put it over her torso and buttoned it up for her. It was quite large for her, but it was comfortable. And then they settled back down on the palm leaves with only the sound of the fire's warm crackling and the gentle waves breaking on the beach. "Night night." Tom pecked Sam on the forehead as she laid with her eyes closed.  
"Night." Sam replied sleepily and both had to fall asleep out in the open, under the stars without a clue as to where they were, or what else was happening in the world because as far as they knew, there was still a world war going on. But would they ever be found? Or would they die in each other's arms?

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Day 2**

'_Out of the 400 British soldiers taking part in 'Operation Juniper', 76 have been flown home, and 42 soldiers have been killed, leaving 292 unaccounted for as they are presumed to have been taken prisoners of war. We have received no contact from any of the soldiers, but the Russian government are refusing to comment on the situation. However, it is believed that they are currently increasing their man power in Crimea, and the USA are currently relocating some of their nuclear weapons which creates concern that nuclear and/or chemical warfare may be used in this war.'_

Most of the ED had been listening to that, and they all knew of the situation regarding Sam and Tom.  
"Zoe, I need to leave early." Fletch stated as he approached his boss.  
"Fletch, we're being stretched enough as it is with nurses, what's the big emergency?" Zoe demanded as they both walked into cubicles.  
"Nat's been petrified about nuclear bombs and now that that's been said she's going to be going out of her mind. Look, she's got all four kids at home because the schools are having a strike day and-"  
"Okay, Fletch calm down." Zoe ordered. "That's fine, go on, go home but you'll need to make up the time by the end of this week." She said sternly.  
"Cheers." He let out a sigh of relief before he jogged off to the staff room.

* * *

With their phones and watches damaged by the sea water, Sam and Tom had no knowledge of the time of day, and so Sam woke when the sun had begun to rise unlike her usual 5am start in the army. She rolled over onto her back with Tom's heavy arm across her stomach as he was still fast asleep, and she look up at the bright blue sky above her through the clearing in the palm trees. She turned her head and looked over the burnt out logs and past the pale sand to see the clear blue ocean. Once again, there were no ships in sight - a simple reminder that they were alone.

She sighed as she looked back above her at the sky with the trees swaying in the wind, when she noticed a bunch of coconuts at the top of one of the trees, and she smiled to herself as she imagined it falling down and hitting Tom on the head like a classic cartoon.  
"What are you smiling at?" He croaked and Sam looked to see Tom slowly opening his eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight.  
"Nothing. Nothing." She muttered and the serene environment was interrupted by a loud grumble.  
"Was that my stomach?" Tom queried as he slowly sat up and stretched.  
"No, that was mine." Sam admitted as she placed a hand on her abdomen. She sat up too and hand her fingers through her long, thick, wavy hair. "My hair is really greasy." Sam grimaced.  
"It doesn't look it." Tom said kindly.  
"Well I'm going for a shower, you coming?" Sam asked as she took out her black towel and a change of clothes - unfortunately their shower wouldn't involve any shower gel or shampoo as they had none on the island.  
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Tom smirked as he eagerly got himself ready too and they both made their way to the blue lagoon. Sam undressed completely and left her things hanging on a tree branch before she stood at the edge of the water. She was just about to put her toes in to see how cold the water was when something flew past her. "Cannonball!" Tom announced as he ran past her and bombed into the lagoon creating a large splash.

Sam giggled before she carefully got into the cool water herself and followed him under the waterfall. Both naked, they let the fresh water pour down and drench them which was a nice refreshing action after being in the hot morning sun. The water came up to their shoulders so Tom picked Sam up and she wrapped her legs around his waist so she was slightly higher than him.  
"How long do you think we're going to survive here for? Realistically." Sam asked As she wrapped her arms around his neck.  
"You make it sound like we're going to die on here. We're not, we'll be rescued." Tom said reassuringly.  
"You don't know that." Sam stated.  
"No but I do know that your chest is in my face." Tom smirked as he looked up at Sam.  
"And I know that you need to stop looking." Sam said sternly as she slipped back down into the water onto her own two feet so she was looking up at him and the water came up to her neck.

"You alright?" Tom asked as he noticed that Sam's hand was hovering over her abdomen under the water.  
"I would give anything for a pizza right now." Sam replied and Tom relaxed as he knew she was just hungry. But there was still a small concern in his mind about something that he knew she wouldn't be prepared for.  
"Listen, I noticed when we were emptying our bags to dry our stuff out, that you haven't got any feminine products." Tom said softly as he knew she was always awkward about that topic, even though she was a doctor. "And I know you're on the pill but you've only got one box so-"  
"Tom just leave it." Sam said pleadingly.  
"Okay, okay." Tom nodded, but he could only hope that they were rescued before she reached the end of her box. "I'm going to try and catch a fish today." Tom said proudly and Sam chuckled.  
""You are joking right? You can barely catch a ball." Sam joked.  
"You won't be laughing when you're eating nice crispy fish smoked over the fire."  
"Well while you try and catch as fish, I'll be looking for more coconuts." Sam stated.  
"No need, I've got two in my hands now." Tom joked as he cupped his hands over her chest.  
"Not funny." Sam quipped.

* * *

After showering and changing into a clean pair of camouflage shorts and his sandals, Tom had follows the small stream from the lagoon that flowed out to the ocean and he was standing in the shallows with a sharpened stick, hoping to catch something. Whilst Sam who was in a sports bra and her very short camouflage shorts, had gone exploring in the jungle to find something to eat. She had been looking up the whole time to try and find more coconuts, but when she looked down to see where she was stepping in her combat boots, she noticed something bright in the corner of her eye; there was a banana plant. And there were dozens and dozens of bananas in rows around the thick stem of it. Eagerly, Sam grabbed four of the bananas that were ripest - they were only just turning yellow but she didn't care if they were a little hard - and then ran towards the beach to give some to Tom.

Sam stopped at the edge of the beach to stop her combat boots from getting wet, but she watched Tom standing with the small homemade spear, focussing more than he had ever done on his life on what was in the water that came up to his knees so she hid the bananas behind her back.  
"Guess what I found." Sam teased and Tom looked up to see her with a smug look on her face.  
"A pub?" Tom joked as he padded out of the water and approached Sam so they didn't have to shout.  
"Tadaa!" Sam sung proudly as she showed him the four greeny yellow bananas. "They're not full ripe but, I suppose they're better than nothing." Sam explained as she broke two bigger ones off of the bunch and handed them to her husband because she knew he always ate more than she did anyway.  
"Well done." Tom smiled as he opened one and began eating, as did Sam with her bananas. "Are there any more?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah, I'd say there's at least around 150 bananas there." Sam stated. "But there might've been more, I didn't really look very hard I just grabbed them as soon as I saw them."  
"Well you're doing much better than me at collecting food." Tom said disappointedly as he looked at his plain pointed stick.  
"Hey, you got the coconut yesterday. And I'm sure you'll catch something soon." Sam said reassuringly. "Cor, it's getting hot isn't it?" Sam used her spare hand to flap her sports bra a bit to cool her down as the sun beamed down on them from above.  
"Well judging by the sun's position, it's probably-"  
"Midday." Sam interrupted.  
"Yeah. C'mon, we can lie down in the shade for a while." Tom said softly as he and Sam slowly walked back to the small area of shade where they had slept that night. They avoided the charred fire pit and then laid down on the palm leaves under the protection of the trees above them.

"Don't you think that we should be doing more to get off of this island?" Sam queried as they laid on their sides, facing the ocean and Tom had his arm around her bare abdomen.  
"There isn't anything else we can do. Our phones are dead, we have no other means of communication, and even with a proper diet, we wouldn't have the energy to swim anywhere because we don't know where we are or which direction we would swim in." Tom replied softly.

The couple laid there for a little while, listening to the waves lap up on the beach whilst the blistering heat rendered them tired and lethargic.  
"Ugh, it's too hot." Sam moaned. "I'm in a sports bra, shorts and I'm in the shade but it's absolutely boiling." She complained.  
"Come on, we'll go and relax in the lagoon to cool us down."  
"And I've got a headache." She grumbled as Tom slowly helped her up to her feet.  
"It's probably dehydration. Just drink plenty of water from under the waterfall." Tom replied as they slowly walked through the jungle. Once they arrived, they took all of their clothes off and got into the cool water together.

"Mm, that's nice." Sam smiled as Tom wrapped his arms around her and they entwined their legs together. The sun was still shining down on them through the clearing in the trees as they relaxed in the water, but it was certainly cooling them down. "What do you think everyone else is up to?" Sam asked curiously.  
"Who's everyone else?" Tom asked.  
"Fletch, Zoe, everyone else in the world." She replied and Tom smiled as she got her hair wet under the waterfall and then drank some of the falling water from her hands.  
"Well I reckon Zoe will be shouting at Connie, and Fletch is probably playing with his kids at the park. And as for the rest of the world, I'd say that they're probably doing a lot of things because there's a lot of people in the world and i'd be here all week saying what each and every person is doing." Tom replied and Sam squinted her eyes at him as she splashed him with water.  
"That's not funny." She stated sheepishly.  
"No, but doing this is." Tom stated as he picked Sam up, put her over his shoulder and then went underwater with her before he stood back up so she could get some air.  
"Tom!" Sam shrieked. "Put me down, now!" She ordered as the water poured off of her thick hair back into the lagoon.  
"Nah, I quite like having you on my shoulder, that way you can't do anything back to me." Tom said smugly as he playfully slapped her bum. Both of them were completely naked so as she was hanging over his shoulder, she had one arm across her chest instinctively but she knew no one would be looking as they were alone on the island.

"Put me down, or I won't show you where the bananas are, and you can go hungry." Sam threatened.  
"Ah, but you're so short that you can't reach the coconuts so I can have more coconut milk, and eat the flesh - I can live without bananas." Tom replied.  
"Tom, your shoulder is digging into somewhere it shouldn't, put me down!" Sam whined as she wriggled so Tom let go of her and she splashed into the water before she resurfaced and gave him evils.  
"What?!" He laughed.  
"That hurt." She grumbled and Tom saw her put her hand between her legs under the water as she grimaced.  
"Alright, I'm sorry." Tom stopped joking because he realised she had actually been in pain. "You alright?" He asked. "You want me to kiss it better?" He joked as he couldn't resist saying that after it had come into his head.

"No but I know something you can do to make me feel better." Sam stated as she raised an eyebrow.  
"Oh yeah?" Tom smirked as Sam backed him up towards a ledge under the waterfall where the sound of running water echoed through the small cave. "Come here." Tom whispered as he lifted Sam up and sat her on the smooth rock shelf. He reached up and kissed her passionately, before he planted small kisses along her neck, and then her collarbone. He then slid out of the water and on top of her before they made love in a far more romantic place, compared to the store rooms and sheds that they had hidden in at their training camp.

* * *

Tom was putting his weight on his arms and legs as he hovered above Sam after making love to her. There wasn't enough room on the ledge for them both to lay there so he slid into the water besides her and rested his elbows on the rock so they stayed close. Sam rolled onto her side with a smile creeping across her face as she watched Tom catch his breath back.  
"I take it you're feeling better now then." Tom smirked.  
"Much, thanks." Sam purred. "What was it you said before? I can't run around the island and use up my remaining energy, but we can have sex to our hearts content can we?" Sam questioned jokily.  
"Yeah. Sex is a human need, running is just a Sam need." Tom replied cheekily.  
"Well I'm human, and I'm Sam so surely I can have both." Sam remarked.  
"You can go running if you really want to, but don't you think it's a bit hot? Plus you'll be running on sand which is absolutely knackering, let alone the fact that you'll either be bare footed, in combat boots or in flip flops." Tom explained.

"Fair point." Sam shrugged. "Right, I'm hungry." Sam stated as she sat up on the ledge and Tom gave her a hand down into the water before they made their way under the waterfall and out of the lagoon.  
"Coconut or banana?" Tom asked as he got out and wiped the water off of him using only his hands - the heat would dry them off in a matter of minutes anyway so he just pulled his knee length shorts and his sandals back on. Sam also squeezed the water out of her thick hair before she pulled her sports bra and shorts on. And she carried her combat boots as she made her way through the jungle.  
"Both." Sam replied bluntly as she made a short detour with Tom in two and grabbed two bananas.  
"Alright, I'll go and grab a coconut then. Meet you back on the beach." Tom said before he began jogging off and Sam smiled as she headed back to the beach.

* * *

Sam and Tom sat cross legged on the soft, warm sand, watching the waves lap up on the beach as they each ate a banana and shared the milk and flesh of a coconut.  
"I don't think we're ever going to get found." Sam admitted. "And I know you're going to say don't lose hope, but we've been here for almost 48 hours Tom, if someone knew where we were, we'd have been rescued by now."  
"There isn't a place in the world that isn't visited by humans so we might have a wait a little while, but we'll be okay. We've got food, water and shelter. And we've got each other." Tom replied as he took her hand and gave it a small squeeze.  
"But how long is a little while?" Sam asked. "And what if one of us gets hurt, or sick? I mean, I had a headache from dehydration earlier, what if it had gotten serious? And then there's sun burn. We haven't got sun cream, and your shoulders are already starting to burn. We haven't got any shower gel or shampoo. There're no razors and my underarm is already starting to look like a forest." Sam retorted.

"It can't be as good as mine though." Tom smirked as he lifted his arm up and showed her his hairy armpit. "Look I don't care about a bit of body hair, it's natural. I'm already getting a beard Sam. Just embrace the look." He smirked.  
"Pft. You couldn't grow a beard if you tried." Sam laughed as she brushed her thumb along his cheek. "In fact, I might try and use my pocket knife." Sam said questioningly.  
"To shave? Oh god, please don't press too hard." Tom grimaced at the thought of the pocket knife sliding along his rough chin, let alone shaving her delicate skin.  
"I won't." Sam rolled her eyes at him before she looked out over the ocean.

"Wearing short shorts and a sports bra all day really suit you, y'know." Tom winked.  
"Don't wink at me." Sam sighed.  
"Why not?"  
"Because that's what Iain used to do to me." Sam admitted quietly.  
"Oh... Well if I can't wink at you, then I've got to do something else to compliment your appearance haven't I?" Tom smiled and Sam couldn't help but smile in return as it tugged at her lips. "You're so beautiful." Tom whispered as he rolled over and climbed on top of her on the sand. He leant in and softly kissed her on the lips, and lingered for a few moments before he continued to kiss to make her want him more. He slid his hand between them, and began unbuttoning his wife's shorts before they made love once more - they didn't have anything else to do except find food and water, so they guessed that intercourse would become a daily part of their lives until they were found.

* * *

Tom felt Sam's naked body writhe underneath him as her breathing quickened whilst he lowered his head and held it next to her head for a few seconds, before she relaxed and began to take deep breaths again.  
"I love you." Sam purred as Tom pressed his forehead against hers whilst they both recovered from their climax.  
"I know you do." Tom smiled cheekily before he kissed her once more on the lips. She couldn't help but let out a small gasp as he pulled himself out of her using only his hips. "Wrap your arms around my neck." Tom ordered softly.  
"What?" Sam appeared confused.  
"Just do it." Tom smiled and slowly, Sam put her arms around him, only to be hoisted into the arm with her legs around his hips as he had his arms under her bum, supporting her weight. "Care for a quick rinse off?" He smirked as he sound her around and then slowly padded down the beach towards the ocean.  
"Hang on." Sam ordered and abruptly, Tom stopped as the small wave rolled past his feet, and then back into the sea. "I don't want my hair getting wet again." Sam stated as she quickly used a hair band on her wrist to tie her slightly damp hair up in a tight bun - it would take over an hour for her hair to dry naturally at home, but here it took just minutes.

"Can I carry on now?" Tom huffed sarcastically as he took several large steps into the water until he and Sam were in the water up to their shoulders, but he was still holding her against his waist.  
"I'm pretty sure I got some sand in some weird places." Sam admitted and Tom smirked.  
"Here, I'll get it out for you." Tom said as he quickly moved his hand under the water and Sam squealed as she clenched her legs together.  
"No don't!" She laughed.  
"Why not?"  
"Because I don't want you to." Sam stated bluntly.  
"Okay, alright." Tom said as he put his hand back under her to hold her above the waterline.

"You do realise that you're picking me up like a child right?"  
"Ah, but do you realise that if I drop you now, your feet won't reach the bottom without you going underwater, and then your hair will get wet." Tom remarked.  
"You wouldn't dare." She teased.  
"I seem to remember you saying that before Mrs Kent, and we both know, I will." Tom stated smugly.  
"Don't please." Sam begged.  
"I won't, don't worry." He smiled as he turned around and began to walk back to the shore.

* * *

Sam was sitting cross legged on the sand besides the small crackling fire wearing her camouflage shorts, and a hoodie with the hood up to keep her warm as the evening had brought chilly winds with it whilst Tom had gone to get a coconut of them to go to sleep with something in their stomachs. She didn't like being alone on the island. During the day, it was alright but she was sitting at the edge of a jungle in the darkness with only a small fire illuminating her immediate surroundings and she could hear rustling in the trees behind her.  
"Boo!" Tom said quietly as he placed one hand firmly on her shoulder but Sam let out an ear piercing scream as she got to her feet and snapped her neck around to see the attacker. She also put her hands down to her thigh as though she was going to grab her gun but of course, that had been taken on the helicopter.  
"Tom don't do that!" Sam shouted angrily as she placed a hand over her heart that was beating ten to the dozen. Tom's smile disappeared as the fire that was lighting Sam's face showed the tears that had pooled in her eyes. She wasn't letting them fall, but she looked truly petrified.

"Sorry sorry sorry sorry." Tom said quickly as he dropped the coconut on the sand and pulled Sam into his arms. She buried her head in his chest as he tucked his chin on top of her hood. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you that much." Tom whispered softly as he rubbed his arm up and down her back soothingly. He knew if they'd been camping somewhere in England and he'd played the prank on her then she'd had laughed it off and sworn revenge on him. But they weren't in England - they didn't know where they were - and she hadn't been eating properly, let alone sleeping properly as he knew she had been tossing and turning the previous night trying to get comfortable on the ground.

He held her in his arms and swayed from side to side a little for a few minutes to make sure that she had calmed down and that she hopefully wouldn't snap at him, before he gave her a firm kiss on the top of her head, and pulled away but he kept his hands on her hips.  
"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.  
"Depends, if I say yes are you going to let go?" Sam mumbled innocently and Tom felt terrible as he saw the rare vulnerable side to his wife. He was almost disappointed because as much as he didn't want her to shout at him again, he'd rather her be angry than as scared as she looked now.  
"Not if you don't want me to." Tom said sternly as he wrapped his arms around her once more and they stayed in that position for several more minutes when finally she pulled away.

"Sorry, I'm being stupid." Sam stated as she kept her eyes on the floor to avoid looking into his eyes.  
"No, of course you're not. I was being cruel and I'm sorry." Tom said as he took both of Sam's hands and gave them a small squeeze. "Am I forgiven? Or do I have to sleep in the dog house tonight? which happens to be the other side of the fire." Tom asked and Sam couldn't help it as a smile tugged at her lips. "Ah, you smiled, I'm off the hook." Tom concluded smugly.  
"Fine but never do something like that again." Sam said sternly.  
"What? Because you might crap yourself?" Tom smirked.  
"It's not funny." Sam muttered as she sat down next to the fire again.  
"No, sorry. I know it's not." Tom said as he sat down next to her and grabbed his pocket knife and the coconut.  
"Will you stop saying I'm sorry!" Sam moaned.  
"Alright I'm- je suis desolé." Tom said in a poor French accent.  
"Since when do you speak French?" Sam remarked as Tom began to cut a small hole in the coconut so that they could drink the milk first.

"I don't. I just know how to order a beer, ask for someone's number and say I'm sorry." Tom stated smugly.  
"Oh do you now?"  
"Yes but I learnt that way before I met you sweetheart."  
"Don't call me sweetheart."  
"Of course darling."  
"Or that." Sam moaned.  
"Tell you what, why don't we just have this to shut us up?" Tom said as he took a small sip of the coconut milk before he handed it to Sam.  
"You can have more." Sam said as she offered it back, but Tom put his hand up to stop her.  
"No, you have it. Otherwise I'll be up all night peeing." Tom stated and Sam smiled before she sipped the rest of the milk and handed the shell back to Tom so he could cut it up.

"I wasn't really scared, I was just messing with you." Sam lied, and Tom could see right through her because he knew she had been embarrassed about screaming like a little girl.  
"Here." He decided not to respond because he didn't want to upset her, so he just handed her the first chunk of coconut that he had cut off.  
"Thanks."

After eating all of the flesh that had been equally divided between them, Sam went and curled up in a ball on the palm leaves with her hood up and her arms wrapped around her abdomen to keep her warm. Tom made sure that the fire was safe and was going to be alright to keep them warm in the night, before he laid down on the palm leaves too and got on his side facing his wife.  
"You want to cuddle?" He suggested softly to make sure that she hadn't fallen asleep because her face was buried and slowly, Sam shuffled across into his arms and entwined her legs with his. "Night night." He whispered as he kissed her forehead and they soon fell asleep, just hoping that someone would find them soon because their diet wasn't satisfying as their stomachs were always grumbling, and without basic shelter, Sam was temperament to the climate - she got really hot during the day which she didn't mind too much as the water could cool her down, but at night, she always felt the cold.

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Day 4**

Tom awoke to a scream but it ended so quickly, he wasn't sure if he had dreamt it or not. After glancing besides him and realising that Sam wasn't there he decided to go and investigate. He slipped his sandals on and then sleepily padded into the jungle and headed towards where he knew she usually went to the toilet - he wasn't trying to catch her out, that was just where he presumed she would be. And within moments he found Sam with her hands covering her mouth.  
"Sam?" He questioned as he approached Sam, and he found her staring at a skeleton with only a small amount of decomposing flesh left on it where it had been there for so long.

"How long was he here? How long do you think that he pretended that he was going to make it home?" She blurted out in a panic.  
"This man is not us Sam. He could've been anyone. A local fisherman, or a drug smuggler. Sam we've got people out there looking for us, and people who care about us. More importantly, we've got each other. You hear me? Nothing bad is going to happen to us, we're going to be okay." Tom explained reassuringly and Sam hadn't taken her eyes off of the bony structure so Tom stepped in between her and the body and made direct eye contact with her. "We've been here for four days, and even though it may seem tough, we can survive a lot longer here and we will be rescued, as long as there's a will, there's a way and we want to live don't we?" He asked and Sam slowly nodded. "Well then there's a way." Tom concluded. "Come on, let him rest in peace." Tom said softly as he grabbed a few palm leaves and covered the body. He grabbed Sam's hand and led her back towards the beach.

He knew Sam had had a traumatic time in the past 12 hours - she had been scared to death by the smallest of pranks, and all of her hope had seemed to have disappeared because if that person hadn't made it off of the island, how were they supposed to? And how long had he been on the island, until he had died? - presumably from starvation. And so, because of her stressful time, he wanted her to have a good rest of the day, but how, he wasn't so sure...

* * *

"Finally!" Tom shouted. Sam had just gotten back from the waterfall after filling up hers and Tom's water bottles when she saw Tom lift his pointed stick out of the ocean, and there was actually a silvery scaled fish on it. Granted, it wasn't massive, but it was a decent size and it would be far more filling than eating a banana for dinner.  
"Well done." Sam smiled as she put the water bottles down by their bags and then walked along the beach to greet Tom who was looking very proud of himself.  
"Right, for dinner we are having whatever fish this is fillet, smoked in banana leaves followed by bananas." Tom announced as he took the fish off of his 'spear', as he liked to call it, and held the wriggly organism in his hands tightly.  
"I'll get the fire going then." Sam offered.

"Want to help me gut it and fillet it?" Tom asked.  
"How do you know how to gut and fillet a fish?" Sam remarked.  
"I used to fish with my foster dad." Tom stated. "He loved fishing but he hated blood and guts so I always did that bit and then we'd have it for dinner." He explained.  
"Well I'm still not touching it until it's cooked." Sam stated as she folded her arms across her chest.  
"Alright, go and get the fire on then." Tom ordered and Sam rolled her eyes before she turned around and headed back to their little camp. They already had the fire set up so Sam just had to light a match and ensure that the fire caught before she sat back on the sand and watched Tom sit with the fish and his pocket knife.

"Do you want me to get some banana leaves to cook it in?" Sam suggested.  
"Erm yeah okay." Tom nodded.  
"Can you gut it over there so we don't have rotting fish guts near us?" Sam asked.  
"Fine." Tom smirked at how squeamish Sam was being over a fish as he got up and walked over to the ocean to discard of the 'fish guts'. "Do you want the skin left on?" Tom shouted.  
"Don't mind." Sam shouted from the jungle, and Tom decided to take the scales off but leave the skin on so that it was easier, and it would give them omega fatty acids that they certainly weren't getting from their diet of bananas and coconuts.

* * *

Sam and Tom were both sitting cross legged in front of the fire, whilst the two fish fillets were cooking on the fire, wrapped in banana leaves to keep it clean. The sun was beginning to set so it wasn't very hot anymore, and Sam had to pull her hoodie on as she was getting chilly.  
"Are you warm enough at night? Because I've got my hoodie and two other jackets that you can wear if you're not." Tom offered.  
"No, you wear them; I don't want you getting cold." Sam said kindly as she placed her hands in her pockets.  
"I don't get cold, and I won't wear them at night so you might as well." Tom stated. "Anyway, I might go and get some more wood after dinner so we can keep the fire going for longer."  
"I'll come with you." Sam stated. "Then we can carry more." She added but Tom knew it was just because she didn't want to be left alone.

"Right, I think this should be about done." Tom stated as he used a stick to move the leaf parcel towards the edge of the fire before he picked it up and quickly put it down on the sand because it was hot. He quickly untied the parcel to reveal two steaming, fairly large fish fillets with crispy skin on one side of them. "Right you have that one." Tom said as he turned the flattened leaf around so that Sam had the side with the slightly larger fillet.  
"No, you have it. You caught it and you should be eating more than me anyway." Sam said as she turned it back around.  
"You sure?"  
"Yes I'm sure." Sam said bluntly. "Now eat." She ordered. Tom smiled as he used his knife - that he had heated in the fire to kill any bacteria - to pull apart the flaky, tender fish. And then they both used their fingers to pick bits up and put them in their mouths as they had no utensils. "That is so nice." Sam smiled.  
"Mm. Just be careful, I'm pretty sure that I got all of the bones out but there may be one or two small bones left." Tom warned.

* * *

After eating every last morsel of the fish, Tom rolled up the banana leaves and put them in the fire to burn.  
"Right, shall we go and get some more firewood?" Tom suggested as he got up.  
"Yep." Sam nodded so he pulled her to her feet too.

* * *

Sam and Tom had been lying in a comfortable silence as the fire crackled away as they waited for sleep to overcome them, but as Tom looked down, he knew that Sam wasn't close to sleeping as she was staring into space with her eyes wide open.  
"I know something that will warm you up. And it'll wear you out too so you'll get to sleep better." He smiled.  
"Gee, I wonder what on earth you could possibly be suggesting." Sam said innocently as she stretched her slightly achy arms and legs out. But she wasn't really in the mood for such things.  
"Well why don't I show you?" He smirked as he climbed on top of her. He leant in to kiss her, but he realised that her eyes were shiny and she looked upset. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked softly. He cared for her more than anything in the world so he was obviously worried, but she on the other hand was ashamed of herself as she had nearly cried twice in two days and she really wasn't managing to hold herself together.

"It's just... I don't know how much longer we can survive like this... I mean, I want it to be short because let's face it Tom, we're not going to get rescued. And I don't want to spend weeks starving to death, I just want it to be quick." Sam explained shakily. It broke Tom's heart to hear his wife say that she felt that she no longer wanted to live. He would spend an eternity on that island if it meant she would be rescued, but there were no guarantees. And he couldn't do anything more to save her because there wasn't a single thing that he could do.

"Look at the end of the day, why can't we live like this? I can get more fish, we've got fruit, we've got water, the lagoon for showering, we can stay here, we can go swimming, climbing, build a shelter."  
"Because this isn't living, this is _surviving_." Sam argued. "How can you even think that we could stay here permanently? What about toilets? About proper food, money, clean water, our jobs, our home?"  
"But we've got each other Sam." Tom stated. "Look please, can we stop arguing I don't want us to fall out." He pleaded.  
"But what if I fall pregnant? Or one of us gets ill?" Sam asked.  
"What? You think you might be?" He asked as he glanced at her abdomen.  
"No, but what if it happens?" Sam asked.  
"Please Sam." Tom pleaded as he got off of her and laid on his side facing her.

"But you can't keep pretending that we're going to get rescued. That poor man didn't." Sam mumbled as she remembered the split second that she saw the body lying there on the ground that morning.  
"Yes but he must've been there a very long time for that to have happened, we've been here four days." Tom said reassuringly. "Come on, put this on, we can go to sleep and tomorrow is a new day." Tom said as he grabbed his large hoodie and once Sam had sat up, he pulled it over her head for her and she pulled that hood up too. Sam laid on her side with her back facing him so he could wrap his arms around her and nuzzle his face into the back of her neck. "We're going to be alright." Tom whispered as they both drifted off into a slumber, but whether that was for the benefit of him, or her he wasn't sure as he too was beginning to lose hope...

* * *

**Day 6**  
Sam had gotten the technique perfected of finding leaves that wouldn't irritate her skin after she had gone to the toilet because unlike Tom, she couldn't just undo her zipper by the nearest tree. She was just returning to the beach where Tom had started the fire as it was beginning to get dark, when her foot slipped a little beneath her. She looked down to see her combat boot had trodden in a orangey brown mush, and when she looked up, she realised that she was standing underneath a mango tree and her face lit up like a child on christmas morning.

She had to jump to reach the lowest branch but she managed to pick two mangoes before she jogged back to the beach. "Guess what I found?" Sam sung and she was glad it and been that day that she found them because Tom hadn't been able to catch a fish for two days and they had been left eating bananas and the single coconut that they could see - they weren't eating sustainably as finding a coconut was now a rarity.  
"Another coconut?" Tom questioned as Sam stood behind him with her hands behind her back.  
"Better." Sam teased.  
"Two?" He asked.  
"I've got two something's but they're not coconuts." Sam stated.  
"Two... Chocolate cakes?" Tom joked halfheartedly as he added another small log to the fire.

"Mangoes." Sam smiled as she sat down cross legged besides him and held the two green and red fruits in her lap.  
"Where did you find them?" He demanded.  
"Where I normally go to the toilet." Sam stated because Tom knew he was best to avoid a certain area as that was where Sam always went whereas he always went in one spot. "And don't pull that face, they were on the tree, not on the ground." Sam stated to ease his worry about sanitation. "Here." She smiled proudly as she gave him the bigger fruit and then took out her pocket knife so she could begin eating.  
"Thanks." Tom said gratefully as he got out his knife and began to peel the fruit. "Did it look like there were many mangoes?" He asked curiously.

"I didn't really look to be honest, and it's pretty dark in there." Sam stated.

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Day 13**

After a long day at work, Zoe went to the staff room to get a cup of coffee as she was staying behind doing overtime. Only she found Fletch sitting with his back towards her at the breakfast bar.  
"Fletch? I thought your shift ended over an hour ago." Zoe stated confusedly. She approached the man and noticed that he had tears dripping down his face. "Fletch what's..." Zoe stopped herself as she saw two handwritten letters in front of him.  
"The um... The army sent me Sam and Tom's letters because I'm their next of kin after each other and because they're been missing for two weeks, it's time that they release their letters." Fletch explained shakily.  
"Can I...?" She asked.  
"Yeah sure." Fletch nodded and Zoe first picked up Sam's letter.

_Dear Tom,  
I'm lying next to you in bed as I write this and as usual you're taking up 3/4 of the bed and snoring like a pig - in fact that's an insult to pigs. And I don't know why I'm writing this because I really hope you never have to read this letter. Anyway, I know that when you read this, you'll probably be angry because knowing me, I probably died doing something stupid. And if it was, I'm sorry. I'll be more careful next time :) But I died serving my country Tom, and I can't think of a better way to go so don't think for one second that I have died in vain._

_I want you to know that whatever happens next for you, I'm happy. Whether you decide to carry on in the army or go back to a civy ED or even become a GP, I don't mind (but please don't be a GP all you'll do is hand out antibiotics all day). And grief makes people do stupid things so don't think for one minute that by making a mistake you'll have let me down because you haven't. I want you to be happy again and I don't mind if you go on to get married again, and have kids, or if you grow to be an old lonely git! (The latter is more likely knowing you...)_

_Tom I'm sorry I've put you through this, but as they all say 'it will get better'. And you will be happy and feel loved again - you take as much or as little time as you need before you move on. I don't know if I've ever told you because I'm not as open as some people, but I have never loved anyone in my life like I love you. You are my whole world and just because I have passed away, doesn't mean I'm not with you in memories and in your heart._

_With all my love,  
Sam Kent xx_

Zoe placed the letter down on the counter where several of Fletch's tears had fallen and then gently picked up Tom's letter which had clearly been written in his nearest possible handwriting and it was just about readable compared to his usual hyroglifics.

_Dear Sam,  
You're the best thing that has ever happened to me and I know you, so I know that right now you'll probably be blaming yourself for letting me join the army with you. But you need to stop because I was the one who offered to join, because I wanted to serve my country and doing that with you has made me the happiest man on the planet because we've never been closer._

_I love you with all my heart and because of that I want you to be happy. Which is why whatever you go on to do with your life, I want you to know that I'll be proud of you. Whether you get remarried or have children, or leave the army, I will be proud of you because I just want you to be happy._

_I've got to be honest, I don't actually know what to write because I'm writing this as I listen to your stunning singing voice echoing from the ensuite as you shower. Sam, you are so beautiful, so intelligent, and so irritating. And they are just a few of the reasons I fell in love with you, the moment I looked into your beautiful blue eyes. I love you, and just remember, I want you to do whatever makes you happy._

_Love eternally,  
Tom x_

Slowly, Zoe placed the letter down on the counter and then she looked at Fletch who was staring into space as a tear rolled down his cheek.  
"I don't understand, they'd been out of the country, for less than two days, and they suddenly went missing?" Fletch said confusedly. "I'd rather know that they're dead than knowing that they're 'unaccounted for' because we don't know what happened to them. And the worst thing is, we don't know if they were together when they passed away or not." He admitted before he hung his head in his hands to hide his tears.  
"Fletch, you don't know that they have passed away." Zoe said softly as she placed a comforting hand on his back.  
"But there were 400 people on that mission. 117 are dead, 159 have been flown home and 88 are being held captive in an unknown location. We know that from the news but that doesn't add up, how can 36 soldiers mysteriously go missing? We haven't heard from them in over a fortnight, if they were alive, they would've contacted someone by now." Fletch stated. He knew the numbers off by heart because it didn't make sense in his head, and he wanted to know what had happened to his best friend and her husband. "They were so young..." Fletch bit his lip but it was inevitable as tears began flowing again.

"I know, I know." Zoe said softly as she awkwardly pulled Fletch into a hug. "But like Sam said in her letter, they didn't die on vain, they died fighting for their country and that is the bravest thing that anyone could ever do." However, whilst those two were mourning their friends, Sam and Tom were very much alive. But that didn't mean that they weren't suffering...

* * *

Sam and Tom were preparing as it looked like a storm was coming in. They had been there for 14 days - though they had lost count - and not once, had it even been cloudy let alone rained, but the tide was in, the sea was getting choppy, the winds had picked up and the sky was almost black from the dark clouds - they were just waiting for the heavens to open.

After fourteen days of limited food, and the hot weather, Sam and Tom were in bits. They frequently snapped at each other and then they'd make up ten minutes later, and they looked as well as felt dreadful, as the sunburn on their shoulders had resulted in their skin peeling, they hadn't had shampoo or body wash for two weeks, only a rinse of cold water, and so their hair was getting greasy and Sam had split ends from the heat. Along with that, they had lost weight, and first had been some of their muscle mass which neither Sam not Tom were happy about.

"Where are we going to go?" Sam asked helplessly as she and Tom stood with all of their belongings packed in one bag on their back because they had decided that it was best that they didn't spend the night on the coast by the beach because that would be where the worst of the weather was.  
"Um... If we go and settle down by the edge of the lagoon where the trees are quite thick, we can hide in there until the storm passes." Tom concluded as he took Sam's hand in hers and they began walking.  
"I've got four mangoes, eight bananas and a coconut in my bag so we should be okay for food for a while." Sam said to make conversation.  
"Okay. And I think for long term, we should think about building a shelter in the jungle, we can't live on the beach forever." Tom suggested.  
"Long term?" Sam remarked. "We've been here for two weeks and not a single boat or plane has passed us." She sighed. "I don't want to plan long term, I just want to go home."

* * *

Tom was sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree with Sam on his lap sideways, as she leant on his torso. The rain was pouring down and the thick jungle coverage gave them surprisingly little protection against the elements as the wind howled through the trees. The rain was trickling down on them through the trees and they were drenched - but there was no where that they could go to keep dry - and it was beginning to get dark.

Sam was frightened because she hated the nights on the island at the best of times because their fire didn't give them much light. But with the torrential rain, they had no hope of a fire, and they knew once it was dark, they could do nothing but wait for sunrise.

They both had their hoods up, but the water had soaked through, and their bags that were besides them were dripping wet too. They only had clothes and things in there do it didn't really matter because they could lay them out to dry when the better weather came, but for now, they were wet, tired, cold and even Tom had to admit the thought of no fire - the provided them with light and heat throughout the night - was a little daunting.

"Tom, I think this is it." Sam mumbled against his chest.  
"What? No, don't think that. It's tough now but we'll be fine once the storm has passed." Tom said reassuringly.  
"But I hate the dark." Sam mumbled very quietly in the hope rest Tom wouldn't hear her, but he did, even over the rain and winds.

"I know, but you'll be in my arms all night and nothing's going to hurt you." Tom said softly as he tightened his grip on her. "I won't let you go, I promi-" Tom was interrupted as they were momentarily blinded by a bright flash, and then a roaring of thunder echoed across the skies for a while before it stopped.  
"Tom." Sam sobbed.  
"You don't like thunderstorms either, do you?" Tom said sympathetically.  
"I'm fine if I'm in a building but..."  
"But out in the open, it feels real. I know." Tom filled in for her as he held her tightly against his chest. "How about we have a little sing song?" He suggested.  
"Pft, yeah. How about we don't." Sam retorted nervously.  
"C'mon, we both know you've got an amazing voice and it's not as if you've got stage fright here is it?" Tom laughed. "Today, I'm laughing the clouds away, I hear what the flowers say, And drink every drop of rain... And I see, Places that I have been, In ways that I've never seen, My side of the grass is green, Ooh I can't believe that it's so simple, It feels so natural to me." He sung.

"If this is love," Sam joined in with him, but she only sung softly and quietly compared to his bellowing. "Then love is easy, It's the easiest thing to do, If this is love, Then love completes me, Cause it feels like I've been missing you, A simple equation, With no complications, To leave you confused, If this is love, love, love, Hmm it's the easiest thing to do." They sung together.  
"Do, do, do- oh c'mon, you've got to do the 'do' bit." Tom protested as Sam had stopped singing. "Alright, we're going to be okay." Tom said softly as he accepted that she wasn't going to sing because she was scared. Tom looked down to see that Sam had a fistful of his creased shirt in her hand - presumably for comfort. "How about we do truth or dare, but ignore the dare and just do truths?" Tom suggested. "C'mon, it'll just be us talking and it'll keep your mind off of things."  
"Fine but no embarrassing ones." Sam grumbled.

"Okay. Go on, you ask me one first." He smiled as he slowly rubbed his hand up and down her back.  
"Um... How old were you when you first had sex?" Sam asked curiously.  
"Oh just go straight in there why don't you?" Tom chuckled.  
"Answer the question." Sam said sternly.  
"I was 16." Tom stated. "Don't look so surprised!" He protested.  
"I'm not." Sam smirked. "Come on then, ask me something." She said as she tucked her head underneath Tom's chin and tried to listen to his heartbeat over the pouring rain.  
"Okay... Why did you marry Dylan? Because I can't imagine that you two were ever in love." Tom admitted.  
"Um... I'm not really sure. I mean, he wasn't always so... 'Dylan like' I suppose. And I think I did like him, but then he proposed in front of all of my friends and I didn't really have a choice." Sam shrugged.  
"Of course you had a choice." Tom stated.  
"Well yeah but everything just happened so quickly. We got engaged on a Friday night, and the wedding was the next Friday in a registry office in Gretna green. Sam stated.

"So you married him because it was kind of forced." Tom said questioningly.  
"I suppose so." Sam shrugged. "Right, your turn. Um... When did you realise that you loved me?" Sam asked curiously.  
"You-" Tom began but he was interrupted by another rumble of thunder. "You already know that." He stated.  
"Do I?" Sam squeaked innocently as she sat with her eyes screwed shut and her head tucked under Tom's chin to try and ignore what was going on in her surroundings and Tom gave her a supportive squeeze.  
"Yeah. Remember when I gave the whole 'I don't want no strings attached' speech in the staff room? It was that day that I realised because my heart skipped a beat when that patient grabbed you by the throat and I was so worried about you. But I knew that if it was Zoe, I'd be nowhere near as worried." He explained. Slowly, Sam moved her head from under Tom's chin, before she lovingly made eye contact.  
"I love you, y'know that right?" Sam said innocently.  
"Of course I know that you soppy cow." Tom chuckled softly as he gently kissed her on the lips. "But it doesn't mean that I don't like to be told that every now and then." He added sheepishly. "Right your turn... Um, what is the thing you hate the most, about me?" Tom asked.

"What?" Sam smirked.  
"C'mon, if were were back in Holby working day to day life and living in our flat again, what do you hate the most about me?" He repeated.  
"Er... I don't know- ooh, you always come in the bathroom when I'm having a shower to use the toilet without asking me, and you always wee on the seat." Sam stated.  
"Well we don't have that problem here do we?" Tom smiled as he rubbed his hand up and down Sam's wet back to warm her up.  
"Right, what is the thing you hate the most, about me?" Sam asked curiously.  
"You can't steal truths!" Tom protested.  
"You didn't say there were any rules and plus I'm awful at coming up with things so c'mon, answer it." Sam ordered.

"Okay... I hate... The fact that you're so shy and embarrassed about your periods." Tom stated and Sam rolled her eyes. "See, your cheeks are going red." Tom stated. "Look I'm sorry, and I know you don't like talking about it but we've been here two weeks and you've only got one box of pills and I know that you haven't got anything to deal with it because we've both emptied our bags. So can you just tell me how many pills you've got left so I know when you're going to be on?" Tom asked softly. Sam paused before she eventually replied.

"5." She mumbled. She knew she was running out of time to be rescued, but she knew that with the raging storm, there certainly wouldn't be any aircraft going over any time soon.  
"5? Okay, and what? I don't know a lot about the pill, so you'll come on on the sixth day then?" Tom queried.  
"Yeah." Sam slowly nodded as she avoided eye contact by keeping her head against his chest.  
"Okay... Shall we try and get some sleep now?" Tom suggested quietly. "Wait. What're you doing?" He asked curiously as Sam appeared to be getting up. But soon he realised that she was just turning around and then she sat down on Tom's lap facing him, and wrapped her arms and legs around his torso before she buried her head under his chin so that she was in a comfier position. Thankfully, she hadn't cut all of her camouflage trousers into shorts, and so she still had one long pair that she was wearing to keep her warm and she had her hoodie on. But the water had soaked through, and although it wasn't as cold as it was in England when it rained, the prolonged exposure was beginning to take an effect...

* * *

**Day 14**  
Sam awoke to the wind gently blowing in the trees and as she slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head off of Tom's chest, she realised that the storm had passed and it was getting warmer once more. But where they had both been soaked through, her clothes were clinging to her, and she clinging to her husband.  
"Tom... Tom..." Sam said softly. "Oi, Major Kent!" Sam shouted and Tom jumped as he woke up before she squinted his eyes at Sam.  
"Was there any need for that?" He grumbled before he stretched his arms out.  
"C'mon, we can go back to the beach and dry our things off." Sam stated as she slowly and stiffly got off of him. It seemed that Tom had forgotten about the storm as he looked up through the trees to see the sun beaming down through gaps in the coverage.  
"Oh yeah." He gave a small smile as he hadn't slept well last night, he had only managed to sleep for the early hours of the morning when the rain had stopped. "Pull me up please." Tom requested cheekily and Sam rolled her eyes before she took both of his hands and heaved him to his feet. "Right, I reckon we should go for a skinny dip before breakfast, lay our clothes out to dry and then by the time we get back we should have some dry clothes to wear." Tom suggested as he pulled his damp rucksack onto his back and he picked up Sam's for her too to save her from carrying it.  
"Skinny dip in the lagoon or in the ocean?" Sam queried.  
"Ocean." Tom stated before he took Sam's hand in his spare hand and they made the short journey back to the beach. They had to completely empty their soggy bags like they had done when they first arrived on the island two weeks ago, because the rain had soaked through. But once they had done that, they stripped out of the clothes and put them out to dry in the morning sun took before they quickly got into the sea.

"I really don't see why people enjoy skinny dipping." Sam stated as Tom swam over to her. The tide was in so they had only gone a few meters out but the water was fairly deep and neither could touch the sea floor as they trod water to keep above the water line. Sam's hair was completely straight when it was wet as it flowed over her shoulders and over her back and chest, whilst Tom's hair was sticking up in all directions.  
"Because then it leaves nothing to the imagination, and I can see how beautiful you really are." Tom replied smugly as he glanced at her body through the crystal clear water. "And so that people can have sex underwater without anything getting in the way." He quipped quickly as he pulled her closer to her and planted a kiss on her lips.  
"Yeah but I'd rather do that on the beach." Sam stated.  
"Why?"  
"Because I'd rather have sand in weird places than water in weird places plus I hate touching seaweed so if we were making love and I felt some seaweed or some of it floated past us, then I'd probably accidentally hit you in the balls or kick you off of me." Sam stated bluntly and Tom grinned.

"So you've never been skinny dipping before?" Tom asked curiously.  
"No."  
"Oh c'mon, you must have."  
"Why? How many times have you done it?" Sam queried sheepishly.  
"I've lost count. I remember the first time was in a lake behind the hall at our school prom though." Tom admitted. "There was about a dozen of us and once the prom had finished we just stripped and ran into the lake." He smiled at the memory. "Right, c'mon. Morning sex is always the best." He stated as he began to swim towards the beach and Sam smiled before she followed him.  
"Why?" She asked curiously.  
"Because it's scientifically proven that men are hornier in the morning-"  
"Due to increased testosterone. Yes." Sam interrupted.  
"And because you are so much sexier with messy hair and all of your muscles have been resting all night, so even in this intense heat, we can go for longer than a quickie." Tom explained as he walked onto the sand which had already begun to dry in the hot morning sun. He turned around and watched his beautiful naked wife stroll out of the ocean before she paused in front of him. "I love you." Tom whispered as he pressed his forehead lightly against Sam's which was only possible because she was on a small pile of sand and so they were equal height.

"Why don't you prove it to me?" Sam teased and Tom grinned as he picked Sam up and held her against his torso and carried her to get into some shade so that they could make love.

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Day 15**

Tom opened his eyes as he came out of the land of dreams, only to remember that he was in fact, still stranded on an uninhabited island. He looked besides him to see that his wife was awake so he rolled on top of her and went to give her a kiss but she twisted her neck to avoid his lips.

"Don't, I don't feel well." She mumbled.  
"What do you mean?" He asked worriedly as he got off of her and knelt besides her.  
"I've got a stomach ache." She stated  
What? You think you've got an upset stomach? Have you been sick or had diarrhoea?" He asked as he went straight into doctor mode as he knew that if she had either, she would be at a high risk of dehydration in the hot climate.  
"Not yet."  
"So you think you're going to." Tom concluded and Sam gave a small nod.  
"It's not nausea so I don't think it's going to be vomiting." She added and Tom nodded in acceptance that she had problems with her digestive system. But thankfully she had already been awake for a few hours and she had taken her pill for that morning so she knew that even if she was ill, the hormones would've already been absorbed into her blood stream.

"This is probably a stupid question but do you want something to eat?" Tom asked.  
"No thanks." Sam forced a smile as she placed her hands on her tender abdomen. "But could you fill my water bottle up please?" Sam asked.  
"Yeah sure." He replied kindly as he picked up her stainless steel water bottle that still had a little bit of water in but it got hot easily in those sorts of bottles so he poured it out and filled it up with fresh water from the top waterfall - he had to climb some rocks to get to the top, otherwise he would've had to have gotten into the lagoon to get the waterfall. When he returned with her water, he found that Sam wasn't where she had been laying on her palm leaves so he put her water down and went back into the jungle. "Sam?... Sam?" He called - he wasn't worried he just wanted to check if she was okay.  
"Go away! Tom please don't come over here." He heard her shout desperately from somewhere in the jungle and he presumed that she was squatting behind some bushes or trees.  
"Okay okay, I'll be back on the beach." Tom said kindly as he turned back around and walked to where their palm leaves were. He sat down and got a mango that they had collected the previous night and it wasn't until five minutes later that Sam returned with one hand rubbing her abdomen. "Was it diarrhoea?" Tom queried.  
"Yep." Sam sighed as she slowly sat back down on the ground but she went on her knees so that she'd be able to get up quickly if she needed to. "Don't go over there. I know you normally don't anyway but..." She pleaded.  
"No, of course. I won't go over there I promise. Not that I'd want to anyway." He joked halfheartedly as he used his knife to cut a bit more mango off of the fruit. "Here. And don't say you're not hungry because you need to have a little bit; you can't have lucozade for electrolytes and sugars so you need to get something in you." Tom said to Sam's disapproving face. Reluctantly, she took the small chunk of mango and took a bite of it.

"I also can't use toilet roll which leaves me the less favourable leaves." Sam grumbled and Tom couldn't help but smirk.  
"Take your water with you and use some to rinse off." Tom suggested.  
"Mm. That's sanitary, use water out of the bottle that I drink, to wash my arse." Sam retorted before she took a swig from her freshly filled water bottle.  
"Alright, sorry but I haven't got any other suggestions." Tom apologised.  
"No, don't be sorry I'm snapping for no reason."  
"You're grouchy because you're ill. It's allowed." Tom reasoned as he cut another small bit of the mango for Sam. "Go on, take it." He ordered and Sam reluctantly took the piece of fruit and slowly chewed it before she swallowed it. "I know it's a long way off, but do you think you're going to want dinner tonight? Because if not, I won't bother looking for a fish." Tom asked.

"Um, probably not. But don't let that stop you, you can have a fish to yourself. I don't mind."  
"Nah, we had one last night so I'll be fine until tomorrow... Hang on, maybe it was the fish that made you ill. Oh god Sam, I'm so sorry-"  
"Oi Dr Kent has your brain gone out of the window? We both ate the same thing, it wouldn't have been the fish." Sam stated bluntly.  
"Phew." Tom mocked wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and Sam gave a small smile before she fidgeted and pressed down on her abdomen. "Would a tummy rub make it better?" Tom queried because he hated not being able to help her and he knew she must've been feeling awful because she couldn't lie down in bed - they had no bed - and she couldn't have any dehydration treatments because they didn't have anything like immodium, instead she'd have to settle for what they could make do with - water and letting nature take it's course.

"No thanks." Sam shook her head. "But a shoulder rub wouldn't go amiss." Sam admitted sheepishly.  
"You always say I'm crap at shoulder massages." Tom stated.  
"Yeah well right now I don't think that I could be feeling any worse so..." Sam replied.  
"Alright." Tom went over and knelt behind Sam before he gently palpated her shoulders in an attempt to make her feel at least a little bit better.

* * *

It was presumably midday or early afternoon as the sun was extremely hot and Sam was in agony. She had a banging headache from dehydration despite drinking loads of water, her whole body ached, and even though she was lying down in the shade, she was sweating profusely.  
"Here. Put this on your stomach or your head or whatever." Tom ordered as he handed Sam his stainless steel water bottle, only the metal was ice cold.  
"How is it _this_ cold?" Sam demanded.  
"I ran it under the waterfall for about five minutes. Want me to do the same with your bottle?" He offered. "In fact, why don't you just come with me to the lagoon? We can wait until you've had another bowel movement, and then we know that you'll be safe for a little while so you can cool down and drink plenty." Tom suggested quietly.  
"Okay." Sam nodded slowly to conserve her energy.

* * *

Tom was naked as he stood in the lagoon and held Sam's bare hips as he slowly helped her enter the cooling water whilst she had her hands on his shoulders  
"Mm, that's nice." Sam smiled as Tom slowly lowered her down into the water to make the impact gentle on her fragile body before he let her go. She gracefully made her way over to the waterfall where she let her hair get soaking wet to keep her cool for a while after she had gotten out of the water, before she began to drink some of the falling water to soothe her headache. Once she had drank enough, Tom sat down on a smooth rock under the water, and then helped Sam to float as she laid flat on her back on the surface of the water.  
"You feeling any better?" Tom asked curiously.  
"Yeah. I've still got a stomach ache but it's easier to deal with when I'm not overheating." Sam explained slowly and quietly as she kept her eyes closed as she focused on floating with her head resting on her husband's chest.  
"Good to hear." Tom nodded.

* * *

The sun was beginning to set so Tom decided that it would be best to show Sam his idea before it got dark. She had spent most of the day either hiding in the jungle when she was ill, or she laid on the palm leaves with her eyes closed trying to rest but Tom had noticed that she couldn't get comfortable, she just kept on fidgeting because she was in so much discomfort.  
"Sam..." Tom said softly as he squatted besides her. She opened her eyes and looked sleepily up to him as she forced a smile because he had been nothing but nice to her all day - not that he wasn't usually, but he was being extra nice and extremely considerate rather than being immature about the situation. "Do you think you're going to be ill in the night?" He asked as he and Sam had agreed that it was far nicer to say that Sam was going to 'be ill' rather than say she was going to have another bout of diarrhoea.  
"Probably." Sam croaked as she rubbed her eyes. "Why?"  
"Well I just thought that because it's going to be dark, I've made the fire quite a bit bigger than normal so hopefully the light should go further, and just come and look at this." He said as he held his hands out. Slowly, Sam took his hands as he helped her to stand up before he walked her a couple of metres away from their little camp where he had made a clearing along the edge of the jungle, but with bushes in between there and their camp. There was a fairly small, but deep hole in the ground, along with a small mound of dirt near it, and a thin pile of leaves besides it. "Right, hopefully the fire should spread some light over here so you can see what you're doing, but whenever you need to go, just come here, and you've got the leaves. And you can just put some of the dirt over whenever you go to save you from going in the jungle when it's pitch black. And I've checked, you can't see anything from where we'll be sleeping so don't worry about privacy." Tom explained.  
"Thank you." Sam said gratefully as she wrapped her arms around his waist - she didn't have the energy to lift them any higher so he wrapped his arms around her too and hugged her back.  
"You're more than welcome." Tom said softly as he kissed the top of her head.

* * *

**Day 16**  
Sam had been up and down several times in the night after they had settled down, and Tom had woken most times as he made sure that she drunk plenty of water when she returned. But in the early hours of the morning, she had fallen asleep and not woken up until the felt the sun beaming down on her. She had managed to get a good few hours sleep, and as she slowly sat up in just her sports bra and shorts, she grinned.  
"What are you smiling at?" Tom asked as he returned from filling up their water bottles.  
"I feel so much better." Sam beamed and Tom smiled too as his wife was no longer suffering.  
"That's probably because you've got nothing left in you to excrete." Tom joked and Sam squinted her eyes at him before she stood up onto her feet. "So can I cover up the crap hole now?" Tom asked.  
"The crap hole? Really?" Sam moaned Sam's she stretched her arms above her head.  
"Alright then the shi-"  
"The crap hole is fine." Sam interrupted. "And I'll cover it, don't even go near it."  
"You sure? I don't mind if you wanna go and wash-"  
"No honestly. You go and I'll meet you by the lagoon. And thank you for looking after me so well. You made being ill more bearable." Sam smiled.  
"I try my best." Tom said smugly as he grabbed the two towels and a change of clothes before he headed to the lagoon to leave Sam by herself for a little while.

* * *

After thoroughly covering up the 'crap hole', Sam made her way to the lagoon where she found Tom singing under the waterfall as he tussled his hands through his hair in an attempt to clean it without any shampoo as he always did.  
"Don't give up the day job will you?" Sam shouted over the noise of running water.  
"Haha, very funny." Tom said sarcastically as he he watched Sam undress and then she got into the cool water and joined him by the waterfall. "You've lost weight." Tom said concernedly as he brushed his thumbs along her pelvis where her abdomen caved in a little further than usual between her hips.  
"I'll put it back on in a few days." Sam said reassuringly. "I think I had lost weight anyway since being on here; my sports bras are a little bit looser, so are my shorts."

"Well then we need to get you eating more. It'd be alright if you weren't skinny to start off with so I'll try and catch two fish today." Tom stated.  
"Sounds good to me." Sam nodded. "Tell you what, I'll make a pointy stick-"  
"A spear." Tom corrected.  
"Fine. I'll make a spear, and I'll see how hard it is to catch a fish." Sam stated.  
"They're bloody faster than you think." Tom warned.  
"Nah, I'm faster than you give me credit for." Sam said smugly.  
"No, I know you're really good at swimming." Tom stated. "In fact, how are you so good at swimming? because before the training, I can't remember you going swimming once since we'd met."  
"I used to be in a swimming club when I was younger. I suppose it's just like riding a bike." Sam shrugged.

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Day 19**

He hadn't paid any attention to time as he had lost all account of minutes, hours and even days let alone weeks. And so he had forgotten that Sam had ran out of the contraceptive pill the previous day which would only mean one thing.

As he woke, he felt the warming sun beam down on him through the trees and he had a big stretch before he opened his eyes and looked besides him, only to see that Sam wasn't there. He laid comfortably for a few minutes as he had assumed rear she had gone to the toilet, but when she hadn't returned, he got a little worried so he got up to look for her. He called out her name as he checked where she usually went to the toilet, where their sources of food were and the lagoon before he went back to the beach. And that was where he saw a small silhouette in the distance on the furthest bit of the beach away from him at the horizon where the beach met the sky.

He jogged over, only to find that Sam was bent double, pressing both hands down on her abdomen, and as he got closer to her, he realised that her camouflage shorts were blotched with blood, and because they were so short, Sam had a smear of blood on her upper thigh too.  
"Hey, you okay?" Tom asked softly as he placed a hand on Sam's back.  
"Okay? Do I look okay to you?" Sam snapped as she groaned due to the pain she was in. She had planned on buying sanitary products at a base when she needed them to save room because when they had left the UK, she wasn't due on for three weeks as she had only just finished her period of that cycle. But of course, on the island there were no pharmacies filled with feminine products, and she also had no painkillers.

"Sam calm down." Tom sighed.  
"Calm down? Tom I'm in agony and I've got nothing to help me deal with this!" Sam shouted as she finally managed to straighten up and stand up properly but she was still in agony.  
"Alright alright, just forget about the shorts, I can wash them for you." Tom said softly.  
"What? Every few hours for the next four or five days?" Sam protested.  
"If that's what it takes to help you 'deal with this', as you put it, then yes I am more than happy to do that." Tom offered. "There is one thing though, you've never had pains this bad normally do you?" He asked curiously - he knew she was shy about her menstrual cycle and that she kept herself to herself, but he was sure that he'd know if she suffered that badly on a monthly basis.  
"Yeah but I normally have ibuprofen, paracetamol, a hot water bottle and a warm bed." Sam replied.  
"And you haven't got any pads or tampons whatsoever?"  
"Do you think I'd be standing with blood dripping down my leg if I had?" Sam snapped.  
"Okay, okay." Tom said softly but Sam went to run away from him so he grabbed her arm to stop her from moving, without hurting her. "No, Sam don't hide from me." Tom said sternly. "Here, give me your shorts and I'll go and clean them in the sea for you."  
"No."

"Sam c'mon, I'll just wash your shorts for you every few hours and then dry them in the sun. Yeah? And you can jump in the lagoon to clean up a bit and I'll bring you back your towel, some clean shorts and underwear each time." He suggested. Reluctantly, Sam pulled her stained shorts down and thankfully, her underwear was black otherwise he would've seen the true extent of her problem. She wasn't going to hand them to him so he had to take them from her hand before he looked into her timid eyes. "Right, I'll be back soon okay, why don't you take a dip in the lagoon, do some gentle swimming and see if that helps with the cramps?" He suggested. "And I'm not looking, so give me your underwear too." He ordered as he turned around and held out his hand behind him. Reluctantly, she did as she was told, and as she shyly placed them in Tom's hand, he realised that they were damp but he decided against making any comments. Right, I'll be back at the lagoon in about ten minutes." He stated before he walked away without looking at her.

* * *

Tom arrived at the lagoon to find Sam in the water, laying with her arms on the edge of a flat rock surface and she was gently kicking her legs behind her. She couldn't believe what she was going through with her husband being present - it was far, far worse than her illness a few days ago.  
"Right, clean set of clothes." Tom announced as he put a pile of things down on a dry rock and then sat on the edge of the lagoon so that he didn't get wet but he was right in front of Sam to keep her company. "On a scale of one to ten, how's the pain?" He asked curiously.  
"11." Sam sulked as she rested her chin on her arms.

* * *

Sam was lying on the palm leaves, writhing in pain as she fought to get comfortable but she couldn't stop fidgeting as the discomfort was just unbearable. What made it even worse was that her shorts were damp with the blood she was losing but she didn't want to ask Tom to clean them for her, she didn't want to wash them in the lagoon because that would make the water dirty, and she didn't want to go into the sea in case there were sharks because of the blood. He had been gone for a while, doing what, she wasn't sure but he finally returned and knelt down besides her.  
"Right, just close your eyes and trust me." Tom ordered.  
"What?" Sam said confusedly.  
"Please, just trust me." Tom pleaded and reluctantly, Sam closed her eyes, wondering what on he was going to do.

Sam had been lying in a sports bra and her stained shorts to keep her cool, as she always did, so Tom pulled out the smooth pebbles from his pocket and gently laid them on Sam's lower abdomen, just above her shorts. Sam's eyes flinched open as she immediately felt heat on her skin, and she looked down to see that Tom was putting the rocks onto her skin.  
"You said that hot water bottles usually helped, so I found these hot rocks in a rockpool that've been under the sun all morning, and I thought that maybe they might help." Tom explained softly as he finished placing the five rounded pebbles on her lower stomach and then placed his hand over them as he applied a gentle pressure.  
"Thank you." Sam gave a small smile. She was fighting her temptation to begin fidgeting again, but she wanted to remain still to at least give the pebbles a chance to work.  
"You sure you're not hungry? You haven't eaten anything all day."  
"I think I'll just throw it back up." Sam admitted.  
"Well do you want to give me your shorts? I'll go and wash them again." Tom said as he grabbed a pair of Sam's clean underwear and another pair of shorts from her bag.  
"Um, just give it ten minutes to see if these work, I want to have a wash before I put something clean on." Sam stated as gestured the rocks.  
"Yeah sure, it's completely up to you." Tom stated as he sat down and then laid down besides Sam as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Thank you for washing my shorts by the way, you don't have to." Sam said gratefully yet timidly.  
"No but I _want_ to. I want you to be as comfortable as you can be during your period. I know it's not ideal but we can only make do with what we've got." The couple laid in a comfortable silence as they looked up at the palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze - the sounds of that, and the waves lapping up on the beach had almost become a small comfort to them.  
"They're working." Sam said quietly as she twisted her neck to face Tom. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear before she pecked him on the cheek. Sure, she still had abdominal pains, but they weren't as bad as they had been and she wouldn't have thought of the idea herself.  
"You're welcome. And I'll come in the lagoon with you, and give you a tummy rub, see if that helps." He stated. "It's completely up to you, but I think I've heard before that having sex can help to ease menstrual cramps so if you want, we can make love but I don't mind." Tom added kindly.  
"I'll think about it." Sam mumbled. "By the way it's usually only painful for the first day or two so I should be okay by tomorrow afternoon or evening." She informed.  
"Good to hear." Tom smiled as he had hoped that she wouldn't be in pain for the full four or five days that he would have to wash her shorts for her.

* * *

The sun was beginning to set do Tom was just about to light the fire when he noticed that Sam had carried over a few palm leaves.  
"Hey what're you doing? I changed the leaves for our bed this morning." Tom stated.  
"I want to sleep by myself tonight." Sam admitted as she raised her hand to her tender abdomen. Her shorts were stained - now, all of them were because even after scrubbing them in the sea, the light desert camouflage patterned shorts were still marked. But Tom had trained himself not to look because he had been caught looking once or twice at the bloody mess and Sam had only gone and run away from him or hidden until he had convinced her that he had seen it all before.  
"Well you sit down and light the fire then, I'll make a bed up for you." Tom said as he jumped up and handed her the box of matches because he didn't want her to moving more than she had to because that only made her pain worse. Slowly, Sam went down onto her knees in front of the pile of dead leaves, and dry branches and twigs so Tom went into the jungle to forest for things to make Sam's night more comfortable.

Usually, they both slept cuddled together on several palm leaves laid on the sand to stop them from getting covered in sand, but he knew that once the palm leaves had dried, they weren't particularly comfortable so he had collected a bunch of banana leaves for her because they were far softer. And once he had made a bed for her out of those, he folded up on of his camouflage shirts as a pillow.  
"Wallah." Tom announced proudly and Sam turned around from looking out onto the ocean to see the comfy bed that he had made for her. "Is this suited to madam's needs?" He queried poshly.  
"Thank you." Sam said as she got up and gave Tom tight hug.  
"All you've said all day, is thank you." Tom smiled as he gently rocked his wife from side to side as he held her against his torso.  
"That's because all _you've_ done all day is look after me." Sam mumbled into his chest.  
"Well it's been my pleasure." Tom smirked. "And I'm going to say this now okay, I don't care what I'm going to see in the morning because if it's really that bad, we can through the leaves into the sea and never see them again. I want you to get some sleep, because a lack of sleep will only make you feel worse." Tom said as he helped Sam down onto the 'bed' and then he laid one of his camouflage jackets over her to keep her warm.  
"I know, and thank you." Sam smiled coyly.  
"And she said it again." Tom moaned sarcastically and Sam giggled a little bit. "Right there is just one thing I wanted to ask you, I'm worried about anaemia because you're certainly not getting a lot of iron from your diet. So, have you had anaemia before?" Tom asked curiously.  
"No." Sam replied bluntly.  
"Okay. Right, night night sweetheart. I love you." Tom gave Sam a loving kiss on her forehead, and then her lips before he went and got into the usual bed.

"Tom..." Sam began.  
"Yes."  
"You have worked out that we can't have sex anymore because I haven't got any pills, haven't you?" Sam asked because she didn't want him getting his hopes up.  
"Don't worry about that, it doesn't matter." Tom said softly. "Now go to bed, it's lights out!" Tom joked and Sam smiled to herself as she closed her eyes.

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Day 23**

Tom slowly opened his eyes and realised that Sam was no longer opposite him, and her bed wasn't there either - she had gotten blood on it in the night and disposed of it as soon as she had awoken to prevent Tom from seeing the mess.  
"Auntie Flo, where are you?" Tom bellowed jokily as he got up and had a stretch.  
"Well I was going to give you a mango but seeing as you're being mean I might just have it myself." Sam retorted as she came from behind the trees holding two red and green fruits. She had already told Tom of her fear of sharks when going in the water to clean a pair of blood soaked shorts, but he was fine with it so instead of washing the shorts that she had worn that night, she had just changed into a clean pair - though the blood had already soaked through them too.  
"Ooh." Tom smiled as Sam handed him the fruit anyway so he got his pocket knife from his bag. "Where are your shorts from last night?" He asked as he began peeling the fruit.  
"Folded up down there." Sam admitted and Tom glanced down to see the shorts and underwear that were far more stained than previous ones because she had worn them all night rather than a few hours. "And before you say something, I know it's getting heavier but it's normal." Sam said quietly. She was getting very paranoid about smelling bad as she didn't have any deodorant or body spray to cover up so she tried to keep her distance from him when she could.  
"Right. Okay, I'll clean your shorts once I've finished this." Tom nodded as he put a bit of mango in his mouth.

* * *

Sam was sitting cross legged on the sand, playing with a beautiful flower that Tom had given her, whilst he was standing in the shallow water in his shorts, trying to catch a fish.  
"Tom it's really low tide, you're not going to get anything." Sam shouted.  
"We'll see when we're eating fish for dinner tonight." Tom shouted back before he focused on the task at hand. She rolled she eyes before she got up brushed the sand off of her backside.  
"I'm going for a walk, alright?" Sam called.  
"Yep. Don't go too far though." Tom shouted without even taking his eyes off of the water beneath him.  
"I'm not a kid." Sam muttered before she began walking along the sand and she let the small, rippley waves run through her toes and then back into the water to cool her feet down.

* * *

Sam had decided to do a lap of the island which at a slowish pace she guessed would take around half an hour, but just a little while into her walk, she stumbled upon a large area of rockpools where the tide was out, leaving lots of little puddles, some far bigger than others, whilst the sea was only ankle deep. She took a little time to tiptoe over the slimy rocks for a while, only something caught her eye in a particularly large rock pool.  
"Bloody hell." Sam whispered as she realised that she had found a large mud crab - it was browny black in colour, and it's pincers looked massive. But then it clicked that eating crab would be a nice change from eating fish or fruit - and it would be nice to rub in Tom's face (not literally of course) that she had caught a crab when he couldn't catch a fish.

She wasn't sure how to pick a crab up, but thankfully the crab had not yet noticed Sam and it had it's back to her. She decided that she just had to pick it up without it pinching her and the safest way would be to grab the main body. She squatted down, grimacing at the slight abdominal pain it caused, and was careful not to fall in, before she tried to grab the crab but it quickly turned around and nipped her. "Ah you little sod!" Sam shook her hand in the air to deal with the pain of her throbbing thumb. "Right, just for that, now I _have_ to eat you." Sam growled as she used the other hand to pick the crab up with her fingers and thumb either side of the main body and the pincers facing away from her. The crab had it's legs and large pincers spread out as far as it could and Sam was a little amazed at how big the crab actually was, but nevertheless, she put her injured thumb in her mouth to suck the blood away and began walking back towards their little camp.

* * *

Tom was standing with his spear, trying to stab the occasional fish that he saw, but they were always way to fast for him and he had sworn several times because he was angry at not catching anything. He was just about to give up when he heard his wife shout.  
"Tom, how the hell do you kill a crab?" She shouted. Out of confusion, Tom turned around to see Sam proudly walking along the beach with a crab in one hand.  
"How the hell did you catch that?!" He laughed as he walked out of the sea and onto the sand.  
"With great difficulty." Sam said as she showed Tom her bleeding thumb.  
"Ouch, you should rinse that in the sea - it's the best antiseptic thing we've got." Tom stated as he carefully inspected her injury.  
"I will, once I've worked out what I'm going to do with this little bastard." Sam stated as she gestured the large crab in her hand causing Tom to chuckle.  
"Well you should cook a crab as soon as it's killed really unless you're going to freeze it, so it's best that we have this for an early dinner rather than save it." Tom explained.

"Well you're the boss when it comes to seafood, I haven't got a clue how to cook it so you're in charge." Sam stated as she held the crab out towards him but Tom flinched back.  
"Watch where you're throwing that thing around!"  
"What? It only gives you a little nip." Sam said innocently as she held up her thumb which was now covered in blood where it had dripped down over her hand.  
"Right, I'll try and kill it, just lay it down on the sand, but put it on it's back." Tom ordered as he took his pocket knife out and put his spear down.  
"Fine but I'm not watching it." Sam said as she carefully but quickly put the crab on it's back on the floor before she went down to the water to rinse her thumb off again. When she returned, the crab was no longer moving and Tom put his knife back in his pocket.

"Let me have a look." Tom said softly as he held Sam's hand and lifted it to his face to inspect the damage. "Well I think you'll live." Tom joked and Sam gave him evils before she pulled her hand away.  
"Can you... Wash my shorts again please?" Sam asked timidly.  
"Yeah sure." Tom nodded. "How's the pain now?" He asked curiously as Sam pulled down her shorts and underwear and then put her hands to hide what she could - she couldn't pull her shirt down because she was only wearing her black sports bra.  
"Bit sore but, I'm okay." Sam replied shyly as she picked the soggy items up and Tom took them from her.

"Right, I'll get these cleaned so, you wanna go and have a quick wash?" He asked as an awkward silence had fallen upon them and he knew that she always rinsed off in the lagoon before she put clean clothes on. "Go on, and I'll get dinner on." He said encouragingly.  
"No because you're going to look at my backside." Sam stated sheepishly yet nervously.  
"When do I not look at your arse?" Tom joked but Sam didn't find it funny. "Alright, I'm kidding. Look, I'll be washing these okay and I promise I won't look." Tom said as he kissed Sam gently on the cheek before he took her shorts and underwear and walked down to the water. Sam made sure that he wasn't looking before she quickly ran off into the jungle to go the lagoon after grabbing her towel.

* * *

Sam returned with her black towel wrapped around her and her long wet hair hanging down over one shoulder to find that Tom, who was just in his shorts, already had the fire roaring.  
"Do you even know how to cook crab?" Sam queried as she leant on a tree.  
"No but I do know that you've got blood dripping down your leg." Tom stated and Sam looked down in a panic only she couldn't see anything.  
"Where?" She demanded but as she looked back up, she realised that Tom as grinning. "That's not funny!" Sam said angrily as she held her towel tightly around her with one hand, and hit him with the other.

"I'm joking, and of course I know how to cook a crab." Tom stated as he picked up a clean sports bra, shorts and underwear for Sam to change into. "But I do know that it's going to be hard to eat without seafood scissors and nut crackers to break the shell." Tom stated as he kept his eye on the fire whilst he knew that Sam was getting changed behind him.  
"We can just use our knives and some pointed rocks to crack them open." Sam stated.  
"I suppose so." He shrugged. "How is your thumb now?"  
"A little bit on the red side, and it was throbbing earlier but it's not too bad now." Sam stated as she joined Tom in her clean sports bra and shorts and showed him the thin but 1.5 inch long slit along the side of her thumb.  
"We'll have to make sure that it doesn't get infected." Tom stated.  
"I know, I am a doctor too." Sam said patronisingly. "But seeing as that crab showed no regret in hurting me, I am going to thoroughly enjoy eating it." She said smugly.

"Ooh, I meant to ask you actually, are you going to sleep next to me tonight?" He asked curiously.  
"I'd rather sleep separately again." Sam admitted.  
"Okay. No worries. I'll make up a bed for you again, just keep an eye on the fire for me."

* * *

Both of them were lying on their sides, in their separate 'beds' watching the fire crackle as the darkness surrounded them.  
"It feels weird sleeping without you." Tom admitted sleepily.  
"I'll be back in a few days." Sam stated.  
"I know but I still miss you." Tom stated.  
"We spend practically all day together, and soon you're going to be fast asleep, you won't even know I'm not there." Sam retorted.  
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong because usually, I have wonderful dreams including you of us getting off of this island, or us having kids or whatever. But last night, I can't remember any of my dreams and that's because you weren't next to me." Tom explained.  
"Yeah, sure." Sam rolled her eyes.  
"It's true!" Tom protested. "Hey, you alright?" Tom asked softly as he watched Sam grimace slightly as she rubbed her abdomen.

"Fine, it just... I don't know how to explain it, it's not always a constant pain, sometimes it just hurts when I move or when I go to the toilet but most if the time it's alright." Sam explained slowly as she tried to find the right words.  
"It hurt when you go to the toilet?"  
"Yeah like, when I squat, it's putting more pressure on my uterus and it just makes it sore." Sam stated. "Right, c'mon. We're supposed to be sleeping." Sam ordered as she lied down on her back, looking up at the stars through the trees.

"Wake me in the night if your aren't feeling well, yeah?"

"I will." Sam huffed, though she knew she wouldn't.

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Day 30**

Sam slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times, before she realised that on the sand next to her was a coconut, two bananas, two mangoes, all of her clothes folded up and her bottle of water in a little pile. Confusedly, she sat up, only to jump as Tom wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head.  
"What's all this for?" Sam queried.  
"Well I thought you could do with a pick-me-up after the last week." Tom stated.  
"I finished bleeding 5 days ago." Sam said suspiciously.  
"And I think it's your birthday sometime this month so I thought I'd do all of your washing for you, and collect a nice healthy breakfast." Tom explained.  
"It's my birthday 'sometime this month'?" Sam laughed.  
"Well do you know when your birthday is?" Tom retorted.

"Yeah, 12th August." Sam said bluntly.  
"Yes but you don't know what the date is today do you? So it could be today." Tom stated. "C'mon, enjoy your breakfast in bed. And today's activities include sex, skinny dipping, more sex, followed by more skinny dipping and a finale of even more sex!" Tom proclaimed as he picked up the coconut and used his knife to make a hole in it.  
"Tom we can't." Sam said quietly.  
"Why not? I thought you'd finished." Tom said questioningly.  
"Yeah, I have but. Well before we were relying on the pill, but now-"  
"We haven't got any contraception." Tom concluded. "Look, I'm pretty sure that your body couldn't carry a baby now anywhere because you're too skinny and you're not eating enough, but we'll use the withdrawal method anyway, okay?"  
"But that's not reliable." Sam replied.  
"It is reliable if the man knows when to withdraw and trust me, we've had sex enough times so I know when I need to pull out. And I'll always be careful, if I'm a tiny bit unsure, I'll pull out just in case. I promise." Tom explained as he handed Sam the coconut. "All the withdrawal method requires, is trust. You trust me don't you?"  
"Yeah, of course I do." Sam nodded.  
"Well then that's contraception sorted." Tom concluded.  
"Okay. I mean it's not that I don't want children but.."  
"But not here. I know." Tom nodded in agreement. "Go on, drink up. The birthday girl gets all the coconut milk." Tom ordered so Sam took a swig of it before she offered it back to him. "No, go on. I want you to have it."  
"But you also want me to be happy don't you?" Sam asked sheepishly.  
"Yes."  
"Well I'd be happier if you had the rest of it, go on. Just drink it." Sam said as she offered the coconut once more to him.  
"Oh go on then." Tom smiled as he took it from her and drank the rest of the creamy milk before he began to cut up chunks so that they could eat the flesh. "I'm planning on catch a massive fish for us today. So you can have a nice dinner." Tom stated.

"Don't go to loads of trouble. Honestly Tom I'm not fussed, plus it's probably not even my birthday today and you've looked after me when I was ill and when I was on, you've already done loads for me." Sam said kindly.  
"Well for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health." Tom said as he put the coconut aside and took her hand in his.  
"Until death do us part." Sam whispered as she looked lovingly into Tom's eyes. Slowly, they moved forward until their lips met where the lingered for a few moments before they rested with their foreheads touching each other. "Do you really think we're ever going to get rescued?" Sam whispered.  
"I honestly don't know." Tom admitted quietly. "I just don't know." He repeated as they both closed their eyes and enjoyed the contact with the spouse.

* * *

Tom was sitting with his legs straddled with Sam in front of him between his thighs whilst the fish that he had caught was cooking away wrapped in banana leaves on the fire. He had his arms wrapped around her and his chin resting on her shoulder as they waited for their dinner to cook.  
"If you had to list the 10 things you miss the most, what would they be?" Sam asked curiously to make conversation.  
"Um... Beer, takeaways, a proper bed, the internet, our iPad, hot, steamy baths with you, having sex in a proper bed with you, shaving with a razor rather than a sharp knife, having a crap in a proper toilet and... Condoms." Tom explained slowly. "What about you?" He asked curiously as he wrapped his arms around Sam's abdomen.  
"The gym-" She began which was interrupted by Tom laughing. "What?"  
"Sam, you're not going to the gym for a long long time, you need to gain weight first." Tom stated.  
"I know, but I still miss it. And I miss proper food, and Fletch... Pretty much everything else on my list was the same as yours." Sam admitted.  
"Plus tampons." Tom added jokily.  
"Plus tampons." Sam nodded.

"Happy birthday." Tom whispered before he pecked Sam on the cheek.  
"Even though it's not my birthday, but thanks." Sam smiled.  
"And dinner is still going to be 20 minutes so we've got time for several quickies." Tom smiled as he slid his hands down to her shorts and unbuttoned them.  
"I don't know if I've got the energy for '_several_ quickies'." Sam admitted exhaustedly as she let Tom kiss down her neck and collarbone whilst he began to pull her shorts down.  
"Well you leave everything to me." Tom said seductively as he gently laid her on the floor and then got on top of her.  
"Don't forget to pull out." Sam purred.  
"I will, I promise." Tom whispered before he planted his lips on hers he kissed her passionately before he pulled away and looked lovingly into her eyes whilst he pulled her shorts and underwear down properly. "As much as I love the fact that you spend all day and all night in a sports bra, it does mean that I can't sexily unclip your bra and then let it fall to the floor." Tom remarked.

"No but it does mean that you can watch me pull it over my head." Sam said as she did so and Tom grinned as she ran her hand through her hair to untangle it before she threw her sports bra behind them.  
"Ah, even better." Tom smirked before he lunged in to kiss her again...

* * *

After having dinner, darkness had surrounded Sam and Tom, and with just the light of the fire, they made love once more on the palm leaves. Sam let out a soft moan as Tom withdrew from her to prevent a pregnancy, as promised. He was on top of her, as she laid face down and he panted heavily down the back of her neck after the strenuous activity.  
"You are so, so beautiful. And I don't think I tell you often enough." Tom whispered into Sam's ear as they both caught their breath back. "And I can't think of anyone I'd rather be stranded on a desert island with."  
"How about Bear Grylls?" Sam joked quietly as she too caught her breath back.  
"Nah, he'd probably try and drink my urine." Tom remarked as he got off of Sam and laid on his side besides his wife, both with nothing on and being kept warm by their thumping hearts and the roaring fire.  
"Speaking of which, I need to pee." Sam announced as she slowly got up to her feet, pulled Tom's large camouflage jacket to cover her assets and slipped her flip flops on before she made her way into the dark jungle.

"Don't go too far." Tom warned as it was pitch black in the jungle away from their fire and he didn't want her getting lost or hurt. Suddenly, Sam paused as she could no longer see anything so she walked back to their little camp. She looked up to see that the full moon as illuminating the beach so she decided that it would be best to stay out of the trees whilst it was dark. "Where're you going?" Tom asked curiously.  
"To go on the sand, now can you stop watching please?" Sam moaned as she turned around and put both of her hands on her hips which made Tom's jacket come apart slightly revealing her chest.  
"Fine, I'm not watching, but do not get any of your piss on my jacket." Tom said sternly as he rolled onto his stomach so that he wasn't facing her. He rested his chin on his arms in front of him and he was waiting for a few minutes when suddenly, he felt Sam launch herself on top of him.

"Gotcha!" She smiled.  
"You do realise that you're as light as a feather and that renders you, a useless opponent." Tom stated as he stood up, whilst he had Sam on his back as she wrapped her legs around his torso and her arms around his neck.  
"And you do realise that you've got no clothes on." Sam retorted as she rested her chin on his shoulder and purposely looked down.  
"Neither do you now." Tom smirked as he used one hand to reach behind him and pull his jacket off of Sam, leaving her naked too as she clung to his back.  
"I could fall asleep like this." Sam said sleepily. "It's much comfier than the floor."  
"Well then why don't you sleep on top of me?" Tom suggested.  
"What?" Sam laughed confusedly as Tom gently put her down on the ground.  
"C'mon, you can sleep on top of me, you've done it before." Tom stated as he pulled on a pair of boxer shorts before he laid down on the palm leaves.

"You want me to sleep on top of you, all night?" Sam questioned, whilst she pulled on her sports bra and a pair of shorts, as though he was being stupid.  
"Yeah, you'll keep me warm, and I'll keep you comfy." Tom reasoned.  
"You'd better not be playing a prank on me, I'm too tired." Sam said sternly as she got onto her knees.  
"I'm not, I promise." Tom said softly as Sam laid on top of him, facing down as she entwined her legs with his and then tucked her head just under Tom's chin Sam's twisted her head to the side so that she'd be able to breath comfortably during the night.  
"If I get heavy in the night don't worry about waking me." Sam said sleepily.  
"One, you and heavy don't belong in the same sentence unless you're talking about periods," he quipped. "And two, you're a heavy sleeper, I'd have a hard time trying to wake you up."  
"I'm not a heavy sleeper." Sam argued tiredly as she closed her eyes.  
"Yes you are." Tom smiled as he gently ran his hands through her hair and all the way down her back before he repeated the action to help her get to sleep quicker.  
"Prove it." Sam mumbled.  
"I will." He thought to himself, and he felt Sam become ever so slightly heavier as she had fallen asleep.

* * *

**Day 31**  
Sam awoke as a shiver tingled down her spine and she opened her eyes to realise that she was on the smooth, damp rock ledge underneath the waterfall by the lagoon and Tom was smiling in the water in front of her.  
"Not a heavy sleeper are we?" He smirked.  
"How long have I been here?" Sam demanded as she slowly sat up.  
"About 10 minutes." He stated smugly. "C'mon, give me your clothes and I'll put them over there so we can have a shower together." Tom smiled and he watched as Sam pulled her sports bra over her heads and then she slipped her underwear and shorts down before she handed them to Tom. She was relatively dry so Tom must've carried her over there, but nonetheless he went and put her dry clothes on the side whilst she climbed in, before they stood under the cold waterfall together - they had gotten used to the temperature.

Sam cupped some of the water in her hands and had a drink to soothe her dry throat before she noticed that Tom was staring at her.  
"What?"  
"I just can't believe I'm married to such a beautiful woman." Tom smiled and Sam rolled her eyes. "Don't put yourself down, you are absolutely gorgeous." Tom stated as he tucked her wet hair behind her ears.  
"Be honest with me, do you really think that? Or are you just saying that?" Sam asked timidly.  
"Of course I mean it, you've got an amazing - albeit a little bit too skinny at the moment - body, luscious thick, long hair and I could stare into those lovely blue eyes for an eternity." Tom said kindly and he meant every word. "And you've got an adorable face when you go all shy like a little child." Tom added jokily which made Sam blush slightly.  
"For what it's worth, you're not half bad either." Sam retorted.  
"Oi!" Tom laughed as he picked her up and then dropped her into the water, only his smile disappeared as she came up coughing and choking on the water. "Sam? Sam are you alright?" He asked worriedly as he placed a hand on her back but before he knew it, Sam had grabbed his hand, twisted it and he flipped and belly flopped into the water - she wasn't choking, she had just intended to make him worry so that she could attack him at his weakest.

"Oh my god!" Sam laughed so much as Tom stood up to reveal his bright red torso which was stinging from the force that he had slapped into the water.  
"You're such a little cow." Tom couldn't help but grin before he picked Sam up bridal style and wouldn't let her go.  
"Tom put me down!" Sam whinged but he just grinned. "Look whatever you're going to do, just get it over with." She ordered.  
"Who had I was going to do anything?" Tom asked innocently and she suddenly brought her hand up to cover her mouth and gagged.  
"I think I'm gonna be sick."  
"Ew!" Tom squealed as he dropped Sam onto her feet in the water and she just smiled to herself as she folded her arms across her chest. "You cow." Tom muttered.  
"Moo." Sam teased and Tom chuckled before he dived across the water and chased her once more...

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Day 45**

It had been more than six long, gruelling weeks since Sam and Tom had been marooned on the island, and they were beginning to lose all hope of being found. Each day, they simply scavenged for food - which was becoming more and more scarce - collected water, occasionally caught a fish, had a shower and collected firewood with the only thing that they had for entertainment was making love - sure for the first few weeks they couldn't get enough of it, but having sex several times every day wasn't as fun as it seemed when they were in sweltering heat, and Tom was having to use the withdrawal method to prevent a pregnancy.

The lack of proper food and nutrition was clearly depleting Sam and Tom - they had both lost significant amounts of weight including muscle mass, they both had several cuts from trying to shave with a knife, Tom's hair was far longer than he liked it and it had gone curly like he used to have it, Sam's hair was longer but she had two inches of split ends and both had really dry skin from the sun and intense heat with no moisturiser.

Sam wasn't in a good mood because she knew she was due on her period any day soon - she had lost count of days but she had an achy feeling in her breasts which she knew meant she didn't have long before she started. And even though she knew Tom would support her as much as he could, she didn't look forward to writhing in pain once more because she hated having no painkillers.

As she awoke to the sand beneath her heating up - she could tell it was getting towards summer wherever she was because it was becoming hotter day by day that by midday it was almost unbearable. She stretched her arms and legs out, before she turned over to find more sand, and no husband. She had another good stretch before she began walking into the jungle and she hadn't gotten far when she found Tom leaning against a tree in just his shorts with his eyes closed.  
"Hey, you okay?" Sam asked softly.  
"I think I'm ill." Tom stated. "I feel really sick." He added.  
"Have you had some sips of water?" Sam suggested. "You're quite sweaty actually, has your urine been dark?" Sam asked clinically.  
"I haven't been this morning." Tom admitted.  
"Right... I think this might be heat exhaustion. Are you feeling tired?" Sam asked slowly as Tom was taking deep breaths. He gave a small nod which took great effort on his part. Sam gently put her hand on Tom's hot, flushed chest to feel that his heart was hammering away in his chest. "Yeah, this is heat exhaustion." Sam stated quietly. Suddenly Tom turned around and vomited down by the tree trunk that he had been leaning on. It wasn't much, but he retched and gagged slightly as Sam rubbed circles on his hot back and her skin stuck to his moist skin. "C'mon, let's get you cooled down." Sam said softly as she turned him around and guided him towards the lagoon.

She knew that she shouldn't submerge Tom in the water just yet because that could cause his heart to stop at the sudden change in temperature. So instead she decided that the best thing to do, would be to lie him down on the ledge under the waterfall where the rock was cool, he would be out of the sun and he would receive a refreshing spray as the water splashed into the lagoon. But she knew she'd have to carry him.

"Right, Tom I'm going to pick you up alright, it might make the nausea worse for a few minutes but I need to cool you down enough so that you can get into the lagoon by midday." Sam explained.  
"Don't, you'll... You'll hurt yourself." Tom panted.  
"Yeah well I'll be hurting more if you die from heat stroke so I need to get you onto that ledge before it develops to heat stroke." Sam said sternly.

Sam took deep breaths after placing Tom on the rock ledge under the waterfall. She was in the cool water in her shorts and sports bra, whilst he was just in his shorts, lying on his back on the rock. She was knackered after the short but exhausting journey, whilst Tom was clearly relieved at the cool environment.  
"Thank... Thank you." Tom croaked.  
"You looked after me, I'm looking after you." Sam replied as she cupped some of the water in her hands and poured it over this body slowly to cool him down. "I'm staying right here with you until you're better." She added firmly. She put her arms on the edge of the rock and rested her chin on the edge of the rock for a good fifteen or twenty minutes before she felt Tom's forehead - he was still far too hot for her liking, but he was cooler so he was making progress. "Right, I'm going to go and get your water bottle, I need you to promise me that you're going to stay right here." Sam ordered quietly because she didn't want to risk him going into the cold water until he was much warmed because if his heart stopped, she had no chance of restarting it without a defibrillator.  
"I promise. And stop talking to me like I'm a child." Tom said exhaustedly yet jokily and Sam gave a small smile in return.  
"Okay, I'll be right back." Sam leant up on the ledge and pecked Tom on her he cheek before she swam out of the lagoon to go and get the bottle to get him drinking fluids again.

* * *

"I think I'm alright to go in the water now... Sam?" Tom said as he looked to see that Sam had fallen asleep as she rested her head and her arms on the rock on front of her whilst she had been looking after Tom. He had been lying there for what seemed to be an age, but was really only around two hours. "Sam?" He repeated gently.  
"Hm? What is it?" Sam asked worriedly.  
"Don't panic, I just said I think I'm okay to go in the water now." Tom repeated.  
"We'll see about that." Sam said sheepishly as she placed the back of her hand on Tom's forehead. "Headache?" She queried.  
"Um... Not necessarily, I'm a bit achy but I haven't got a banging headache." Tom replied honestly.  
"And any nausea?" Sam asked clinically.  
"Not now that I've got your beautiful eyes to look in to." Tom replied cheekily.  
"C'mon then, but slowly." Sam said sternly as Tom sat up with his head ducked so that he didn't headbutt the rocks whilst he dangled his legs in the lagoon. "How does the water feel?" Sam asked suspiciously.

"Wet." Tom replied bluntly and Sam tried to hide her grin as she lowered her head. "Oh c'mon, that was funny." Tom laughed.  
"This isn't funny I was really worried about you." Sam stated.  
"Well I appreciate your concern, but I am as fit as a- ooh!" Tom squealed as he slid into the water and it was freezing cold, Sam however had been in it for over an hour so she was used to it. In fact, she found it nice.  
"If it's too cold, get out." Sam ordered.  
"No, it's fine. It was just the shock." Tom stated to ease Sam's concerns. "It's actually quite soothing after being on that ledge actually." He admitted.

"Listen um, I need to talk to you about something- well I suppose it's more of a warning." Sam began.  
"Yeah?" Tom prompted to her to continue as he took her soft hands in his under the water.  
"I've lost count of the days but... My breasts are sore, and I think it's been roughly 4 weeks so I should be coming on anytime in the next few days... And I just thought that you should know." Sam explained slowly.  
"Yeah no, I'm glad you told me. We'll just do the same as last time yeah? I'll clean your shorts for you every few hours." Tom stated. "Come here you soppy cow, you're as embarrassed as a teenager." Tom smirked was he wrapped his arms around Sam and then pecked her on the top of her head.

"No. You stay here and get some rest, I'll sort out the firewood and food." Sam said sternly as they stood by their camp.  
"Sam, honestly I don't mind helping." Tom offered as he ran his hands through his wet hair.  
"Yeah well I do mind. You had head exhaustion, that means that you need to get some rest to recover properly and you're not going to get rest by wandering through a jungle or swimming in the sea. Please Tom just lie down for a while." Sam begged as she did not want to have to go through what he had gone through that morning once again.  
"You sure you don't want my help?" Tom asked.  
"Yes I'm sure, please." Sam repeated.  
"Okay, alright." Tom sighed as he slowly sat down and then laid down on the palm leaves. "But don't go worrying about trying to catch a fish, I'd rather just have some banana after throwing up this morning." Tom said softly - in truth he'd much rather have some fish because his stomach was empty, but he didn't want Sam spending hours looking and hunting for a fish by herself when it would be so much easier to get some fruit. Plus he felt bad that he had had to have been looked after by her. Though he was sure that he would be making it up when she came on and he would have to give her stomach massages and wash her shorts and tell her that everything was going to be alright... But he was worried because he hated being stuck on the island as it really wasn't fair for Sam to have to go through such an ordeal without pain relief or sanitation when she had been used to having access to it for 29 years.

"Okay, I'll try not to be too long." Sam bent down and kissed Tom on the forehead before she got up and began to collect firewood for the night, and then some fruit for their dinner.

* * *

"I've been thinking..." Tom began. Once again, they were in the darkness and being kept warm by the crackling fire. The evenings were getting hotter and so Sam and Tom were both comfortable sleeping in just their shorts (and a sports bra for Sam) in each other's arms, though they did sometimes get a little bit too hot and have to sleep separately.  
"What have I told you about that?" Sam joked sleepily as she slowly blinked her eyes - she knew she was nodding off but she saw no point in trying to keep herself awake because she and Tom never really had much to talk about anyway.  
"I think we must be in the Medditeranean." He stated and this caught Sam's attention so she rolled over to face him and prompted him to continue as she was curious. "Well, it must be around late August or September time, and it's getting hotter... And originally, I thought that we might've been in the Black Sea because we were coming from Crimea. But now that I think about it, we were flying for hours in that helicopter so we must've gone further than that, plus the fruit here is tropical and that couldn't grow by itself in Europe." Tom explained.  
"Maybe we're on one of the islands between Greece and Turkey." Sam suggested.  
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking." Tom nodded. "And the tourist economy is usually booming until September or October so maybe there's still hope." Tom smiled.

"Yeah but do you really think that the tourist economy is going to be booming during a world war?" Sam sighed.  
"Well it might've ended by now." Tom said hopefully, but they both knew enough not to comment on the very unlikely event.  
"I'm gonna go to sleep now, okay?" Sam said tiredly.  
"Yeah sure. You warm enough?" Tom asked as he kept an arm over her side and around her back as she faced his torso.  
"I'm fine, thanks." Sam yawned before she closed her eyes and snuggled her face into Tom's chest.  
"We're gonna get rescued soon Sam... I'll get you home, even if it's the last thing I do." Tom whispered.  
"You don't have to think that it's your duty because I'm your wife Tom." Sam croaked. "Your duty as my husband, is to make me happy in whatever situation we might be in, and you're doing a bloody brilliant job at making this bearable." Sam smiled as she opened her eyes and looked up at Tom.

"I just wish that we'd never been deployed; and that we'd still be at home, working in the ED." Tom admitted.  
"Me too..." Sam admitted as she leant up and kissed Tom on the cheek before she settled down for the night. "Me too."

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Day 89**

After days of planning, Sam and Tom were finally going to initiate their plan to get off of the god forsaken island. It was only the first plan, but it was also their only plan. Weeks ago when they had had the thunder storm, a few tall palm tree's had been blown down by the strong winds and so their trunks were now dry and ready for use as firewood.

Sam and Tom had agreed that creating the biggest fire possible might grab someone's attention because if they were in the Greek Islands, they certainly couldn't be more than several miles away from another. And so they had lined up the three fallen trees end to end, in a row on the sand beach, covered them in dead leaves and bushes - everything flammable that they had left on the island - on the North side of the island which they had worded out by using an old scout trick that Tom knew using a stick as a sundial and waiting for it to move to give east and west, before drawing a perpendicular line showing north and south.

"Right, whatever happens, we tried our best but we've still got each other. And I don't want you going anywhere near the fire." Tom said sternly as he pulled Sam into his arms and kissed her on the top of her head.  
"I won't, and the same goes for you too." Sam added coyly before she pulled away and both stood with their small boxes of matches. "You ready?" She asked.  
"As I'll ever be." Tom nodded. They both went to the large kindling and lit two or three matches as they lit the dead leaves and branches which they hoped would catch fire to the tree trunks soon. "Come on, that'll do." Tom said sternly as he pulled Sam with him and they went over to the widest area of the beach two dozen meters away from the fire as that was where they hoped to be rescued. "And now, we wait." Tom stated as he stood behind Sam and wrapped his arms around her abdomen.  
"Mmhmm." Sam nodded as she looked desperately out across the horizon to check for ships before she checked the cloudy blue sky for any aircraft.

"Y'know, if anything comes by air I'm not getting on it right?" Tom joked as he remembered his petrifying time on the helicopter when he hated going up in the air at the best of times.  
"Oh I know, I'll be leaving you." Sam retorted sarcastically before they remained silent with only the sound of the lapping waves and the crackling fire as hint got bigger and bigger. But would anything be coming for them?

* * *

The fire was roaring away, and creating smoke so Sam and Tom had to walk along the beach a little bit to avoid getting suffocated as the wind occasionally blew it to the side. As they stood on the pale sand, waiting to be rescued, they looked up at the billowing tower of smoke that had to be over 40ft tall - some parts of the trunk weren't fully dried out and so lots of smoke was being created along the length of the three trees.

Tom placed his hands on Sam's shoulders and turned her away from the ocean and pulled her into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.  
"Please work, please work." Tom looked down to see Sam whispering to herself.  
"Sshh." Tom shushed comfortingly as he gently rubbed his hand up and down her back. "We're going to be alright." He added. They had been on the island for almost 3 months. Eighty-nine long days together, stranded on an island had brought them closer, and let them get to know each other better, but they would both give anything to get off of the island.

Tom stood with his eyes closed, holding Sam tightly against his chest, in his arms when he could hear a faint buzzing sound. He had heard those sorts of noises in his head before but he had only been imagining that he could hear a helicopter so he remained in the same position. Only a few moments passed and he could still hear the noise. He lifted his head off of Sam's head and looked up into the skies - she had been buried in it's chest so she hadn't heard the noise.  
"What is it?" Sam demanded as she looked up at Tom, wondering why he had loosened his grip - that she had found comforting - on her.  
"Just listen." Tom ordered as he held a finger up to her lips. Sam creased her forehead in confusion but she went silent and looked out over the ocean, but she suddenly realised that the noise was coming from way above them.  
"I can hear it." Sam whispered excitedly.  
"It's getting louder!" Tom stated. "But where is it?" Tom asked as they looked up into the sky.

"Um..." Both of them paused for almost half a minute as they scanned the skies with their eyes, when suddenly from behind a white cloud came a small object up in the air. "There, I can see it! It's there!" Sam stated as she pointed to the object.  
"Hey! Heeeey! Help!" Tom shouted.  
"Help us!" Sam shouted too and they both continued to shout for several minutes up at the plane that seemed to be circling the tower of smoke coming from their fire when suddenly, it exited the circle it had made and it was flying lower.  
"I think it's a plane isn't it?" Tom queried.  
"Yeah, by the looks of the bottom of it, it's a seaplane." Sam stated as they both peered up. "C'mon, please... Please help us." Sam begged as she waved her arms, as did Tom to see if the plane had gotten their attention.  
"Heeeeeyy!" Tom shouted at the top of his voice as he saw the plane heading away from them.  
"No, no please... _Please_ come back." Sam began to sob as she fell onto her knees.  
"Oooiiii!" Tom bellowed. "Hang on Sam, no I think the plane is getting lower so that it can turn around then then land in the water." Tom stated optimistically. Sam slowly lifted her head out of her hands to look across the water, and there was a tense silence for several minutes until the did a large 180° and began heading straight towards them as it got lower and lower.

"I have never been so glad to say 'you were right' in my entire life!" Sam declared as she jumped up and hugged Tom.  
"I told you we'd get rescued." Tom said proudly as the both pulled apart and looked at the plane as it gently hit the water and then turned slightly until it was parallel to the beach and they watched the side door open just a dozen metres from the beach.

"You'll have to swim!" They heard shout from a man on the plane as he stepped onto one of the two buoyant rafts that were elevating the plane off of the water. Sam and Tom spent no time thinking as they both ran into the clear blue water towards the plane - they had finally been rescued after spending so long on the island and they just didn't know what to do with themselves...

* * *

Sam and Tom were in a 5 star hotel in Athens, Greece that had been organised by the army after their discovery had been reported and it had reached headline news. The army were sorting out everything for the couple, including replacement passports so that they would fly home the following day and they would be greeted home as heroes.

They had both had a very long shower with the complimentary shampoo, conditioner and shower gel to scrub their hair and bodies clean, and to have a proper shave before they dressed into new clothes that local people had donated to the couple.

Tom walked out after using the ensuite bathroom that was so much nicer and cleaner than his previous toilet arrangements to find Sam standing on the balcony and he heard her sniffle.  
"Sam?" He questioned and she slowly turned around to reveal tears rolling down her cheeks. "Hey, what's wrong?" Tom asked softly as he pulled her into a hug - she never cried and he couldn't understand why she seemed so upset now that they had been rescued.  
"I don't know." She admitted. "It's all too much and... I never thought that this day would come." She mumbled into his chest.  
"I know, everything's different now isn't it?" He said understandingly as he gently rubbed her back. "I know what would cheer you up, how about you give Fletch a ring? See if he can pick us up from the airport tomorrow?" Tom suggested quietly.

* * *

"Hello?" Sam wasn't sure if she had remembered his home number properly but she sat on the edge of her he double bed using the hotel room phone whilst Tom laid on the bed besides her.  
"_Hello_?"  
"Natalie? Is that you?" Sam asked.  
"_Who's calling_?"  
"It's Sam, Sam Kent... I'm Fletch's friend."  
"_Oh Sam! Of course I know who you are, he's been worried sick about you! Hang on I'll pass him over_."  
"_Sam_?" Just seconds after the Natalie had gone, Sam heard her best friend's voice.  
"That's me." Sam smiled.  
"_Oh my god, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice! I saw that you'd been found on the news but I didn't know how to contact you._" Fletch stated. "_How are you_?"  
"Um, not too bad. They're taking really good care of us here."  
"_And Tom_?"  
"Tom's as annoying as ever." Sam retorted which earned her a small tickle from Tom behind her.  
"_You've got to tell me everything when you get back here, I want to know exactly what happened first hand - not some of the crap that the press are saying_." Fletch stated.  
"I will but, not right away yeah? Me and Tom need some time to settle in." Sam said as she didn't want to hurt his feelings but to her, her husband was more important and she wanted to get used to things and rest first.  
"_Yeah yeah, of course._" Fletch stated.  
"Um... I was wondering, if you'd be able to pick us up from the airport tomorrow?"  
"_Yeah sure._"  
"Okay, it's Holby airport and I think we'll be there around... 5pm ish." Sam stated.  
"_I'll be there with open arms, I can't tell you how happy I am that you two are oka_y." Fletch stated.  
"I can't tell you how happy I am to have a meal and a proper bed for the night." Sam joked half heartedly.  
"_Well what do you two want for dinner tomorrow? I'll sort something out for you._"  
"Um... Tom, what do you want for dinner tomorrow?" Sam asked.  
"Ribs, Chinese, pizza, curry, kebab all washed down with a couple of beers." Tom said as he patted his stomach that was far leaner than it used to be.  
"Fletch did you hear that?" Sam smirked.  
"_Yep. Don't worry, I'll sort something out for you. And I'd better let you get some rest, but I'll see you tomorrow._"  
"Okay, bye."  
"_Bye_."

Sam put the phone down and then laid down on the bed next to her husband.  
"He's going to get us some coconut milk, bananas and mangoes." Sam said seriously but Tom knew that she was joking.  
"If I ever eat a banana ever again, it'll be too soon." Tom moaned and Sam giggled quietly.

"Y'know, we're probably going to end up talking to the press but can you not say anything about me being ill or my periods please?" Sam asked awkwardly as she had endured three menses on the island, each as painful as the last.  
"Of course I won't." Tom said as he rolled onto his side and put an arm across Sam's abdomen.  
"Thank you, by the way." She said quietly.  
"What for?"  
"Everything. For being there for me, for looking after me, for always catching the fish and cooking dinner, for washing my shorts and rubbing my abdomen when I was on, for coming up with the idea to get us off of the island, for-"  
"Hey, I wouldn't have been able to do any of that stuff if I didn't have you to stop me from going insane... You gave me a reason to live." Tom interrupted. He watched as her bottle lip quivered slightly and her eyes became shiny.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me." Sam apologised as she took a deep breath and looked away to try and avoid crying.  
"Nothing's wrong with you. We've been through a lot and you shouldn't hold it in; it's okay to cry." Tom said softly. Unsurprisingly, she didn't begin sobbing, however she did let the tears inevitably roll down her cheek and buried her head in Tom's chest. As she let her emotions pour out of her, Tom wrapped his arms around her and whispered comforting things into her ear as she slowly settled down as she had cried herself out. He slowly let go of her because his arms were aching, and he noticed that she had cried herself to sleep, so he too decided that he had better get some rest too as they had a long day ahead of them the next day when they returned to the UK.

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**

**And thank you to the lovely reviews for the last chapter of beating the odds, they were so kind!**


	16. Chapter 16

Their return had been kept quiet by the army to save them from the media and so Fletch stood waiting by the doors of Holby airport, waiting for his best friend and her husband to return. He had his car in the taxi return section, after he had seen that the CCTV cameras weren't functioning so he wanted to save them from walking all the way to the car park. He just checked his watch when he looked up to see Sam and Tom coming out of the automatic doors.

Both looked very well tanned, and Tom's hair was certainly longer, as was Sam's. They were both wearing clothes that they had bought in duty free that they preferred to the clothes that they had been given in Greece - Sam was in skinny jeans and a hoodie whilst Tom was in bootleg jeans and a knitted jumper and both had gone down at least two sizes as they had lost so much weight.

They didn't have any bags as they had no possessions except the clothes that they were wearing and their wedding rings because they had left their army bags on the island - all they had in their bags were camouflage clothes and all of Sam's shorts were stained anyway.

Immediately, Sam reached up and hugged Fletch.  
"It's freezing!" She stated as she pulled away and rubbed her arms to warm her up.  
"I'll put the heating on in the car." Fletch smiled as he firmly shook Tom's hand. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you two. I was blabbing like a baby when I read your final letters." He admitted.  
"You read them?" Sam asked timidly.  
"Oh yes and I know about your beautiful singing voice in the shower." Fletch teased and Sam squinted her eyes at Tom. "C'mon, get in the car and I'll take you home." Fletch said as he unlocked his car and opened the passenger door.

Sam forced a smile to Fletch as she got into the car and Tom got in the back before they began the short drive back to their flat.

* * *

"Right, I've got you in the basics like milk bread etc, and there's some toiletries in your bathroom so you don't have to go out and you're all settled for a few days. And if you two go and get comfy in the living room, I'll bring your dinner in in a few minutes." Fletch explained as he used the keys - everything had been left in Fletch's care when they were deployed - to let Sam and Tom into their cosy one bedroom flat.  
"Have you hoovered?" Sam asked as she noticed the polished surfaces and spotless floors which she assumed would've been covered in dust by now.  
"Yep, and I put clean bed sheets on for you." Fletch said loudly as he went into the kitchen, whilst Sam and Tom slowly went into the living room. They both sat down on the sofa which was in front of the coffee table that had two sets of knives and forks, along with two dinner plates and a small pile of serving spoons.

"It's weird being back here." Sam admitted. "I'd forgotten how much I missed me and you having a night in on the sofa."  
"Well with me and you out of work at the moment, we'll have plenty of time to have movie nights." Tom stated to which Sam looked slightly confused. "I don't care what is going on in the world, I don't want you or me carrying on in the army. Now I know that what happened to us is almost certainly never going to happen again, I just don't want us leaving here anytime soon. I'm sorry if you want to go out but I need some time to-"  
"Tom stop, I don't want to go back either." Sam said to shut him up.  
"Good." Tom smiled as he leant across on the sofa and kissed Sam on the lips.

"Ugh, can't you wait two more minutes until I'm out of here?" Fletch moaned jokily as he entered with a tray stacked with food that he began to unload onto the table. "Right, I didn't think that after a limited diet whether you'd be up for anything too greasy or filling, but I know you'll probably want a variety so I tried my best. There's a small margarita pizza," Fletch explained as he placed the square box on the table. "A small chicken kebab, one chicken curry, one egg fried rice, prawn crackers, crispy chilli beef and Peking ribs and a portion of chips." He stated as he laid out the plastic containers on the table and Tom's mouth was watering. "They should all still be hot. Oh and there's ice cold beers in the fridge and a bottle of red wine for you Sam, I didn't know which you'd prefer." Fletch said as he went into the kitchen to retrieve the drinks.  
"I'll have a beer." Sam stated.  
"Yeah, I thought you might." Tom laughed. And Fletch was smiling too as he came in with two bottles of beers.

"Right, I don't want to get in your way of your first night of freedom, but I would like it if you two popped down to the ED tomorrow and just have a quick check over each by a doctor because you're both looking on the skinny side and you don't know what damage might've been done being in the sun with a limited diet." Fletch stated.  
"We will." Sam nodded. "But it won't be until midday or early afternoon so we can have a lie in in an actual bed." Sam smiled.  
"That sounds fine to me. Enjoy your meal, I see Tom has already dug in." Fletch smiled as he grabbed his keys.  
"Fletch thank you so much, and I'll pay you back for this." Sam stated.  
"Nah don't worry. Knowing that you two are safe and sound is payment enough for me." Fletch stated. "I'll let myself out, bye." He called before they both heard the front door shut.

Tom was already piling his plate with the various foods and Sam began to, too.  
"You can't eat the crispy chilli beef and pick out the chilli!" Sam protested.  
"I can, and I am." Tom said proudly as he continued to prod around in the plastic container with a fork.  
"Just because you're a wuss and you can't handle spices." Sam stated as she picked up a slice of pizza and took a big bite of it. "Mm, this is so nice."

* * *

Sam and Tom were in proper pyjamas - well Tom, was in his boxers - tucked under their thick duvet in their spacious double bed. And their mattress was so much comfier than they remembered as it accounted for every nook and cranny in their bodies and provided support where needed.  
"I'm not going to be taking anything for granted for a very long time." Sam mumbled sleepily as she snuggled into Tom's arms, closed her eyes and rested her head on the pillows that she shared with her husband's head.  
"Yeah. I.e. Condoms, tampons, razors, takeaway food, beer and a nice big double bed." Tom listed and Sam smiled - he had listed what he personally thought was necessities rather than luxuries. "Goodnight sweetheart." Tom whispered as he gently pecked Sam on the forehead as they both settled down for the night.  
"Night." Sam mumbled and her voice was muffled by the sheets. Tom smiled as his wife was clearly tired, so he gently stroked her hair with one hand and held her hand with the other until she fell into a deep sleep. The best sleep that she would've had in months.

After such a major event in their life, Sam and Tom now had time to enjoy their marriage and they were going to start by focusing on getting to a healthy weight once more, and improving their fitness. And being on the island for so long had created a life long bond between the couple after they had been with each other through their 'better and worse' states. But they were yet to learn that they would leave such happy lives as the event had brought them so close.

**Thanks for reading, please review :)**


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